Najla Said
{{short description|American dramatist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
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| name = Najla Said
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| native_name = {{lang|ar|نجلاء سعيد}}
| native_name_lang = ar
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1974|04|04}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
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| alma_mater = Princeton University
| occupation = {{hlist|Author|actress|playwright|activist}}
| years_active = 2011–present
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| works = Full list
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| mother = Mariam Said
| father = Edward Said
| relatives = Wadad Makdisi Cortas (grandmother)
Rosemarie Said Zahlan (aunt)
Jean Said Makdisi (aunt)
Saree Makdisi (cousin)
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| website = {{URL|najlasaid.com}}
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| language = English
| period = Contemporary
| genre = Non-fiction, memoir
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| notable_works = Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in An Arab-American Family
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Najla Said ({{langx|ar|نجلاء سعيد}}; born 4 April 1974) https://thejerusalemfund.org/2013/10/2013-edward-said-memorial-lecture-looking-for-palestine-with-ms-najla-said/is an American author, actress, playwright, and activist. Said's literary and academic work addresses racism, stereotyping, social and economic inequality, with a particular focus on the challenges that face immigrant and second-generation Americans.
Life
Said grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.{{Cite web |date=2013-07-31 |title=From the Upper West Side to the Middle East: Najla Said on Her New Memoir, Looking for Palestine |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/from-the-upper-west-side-to-the-middle-east-najla-said-on-her-new-memoir-looking-for-palestine |access-date=November 6, 2013 |website=Vogue |language=en-US}} Her father was the noted postcolonial scholar and public intellectual Edward Said and her mother is Lebanese writer and activist Mariam C. Said.{{cite web|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/review/said-said|title=He Said, She Said: Najla Said's "Looking for Palestine" |first1=Nasia |last1=Anam |website=Los Angeles Review of Books|date=March 31, 2014 |publisher=|accessdate=February 26, 2017}} She graduated from Trinity School in 1992 and Princeton University and trained in acting at The Shakespeare Lab of the Public Theatre.
In 2013, Said discussed Arab identity politics with Salon magazine and her approaching of the subject in her book Looking for Palestine.{{Cite web |last=Dickson |first=Ej |date=2013-07-28 |title=Najla Said: "My Arab-American story is not typical in any way" |url=https://www.salon.com/2013/07/28/najla_said_my_arab_american_story_is_not_typical_in_any_way/ |website=Salon |language=en}}
Acting career
In 2010, Said featured in a one-woman off-Broadway play, Palestine.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/theater/09said.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&|title=Identity Found: On West Side via West Bank |work=The New York Times|author= Felicia R. Lee|date=February 8, 2010|quote=“Najla's play is important because it adds a personal dimension to the difficulties of communication in a life that has many different reference points,” Mr. Barenboim said...}}
Said has appeared in films including My Love Affair with Marriage, as well as several US TV shows including New Girl, NCIS: New Orleans and New Amsterdam.[https://imdb.com/name/nm1394857/ IMDB website, Retrieved 2023-05-17]
Works
- {{cite book|title=Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWertFjTTK8C|date=August 1, 2013|publisher=Penguin Group US|isbn=978-1-101-63215-4}}
- {{cite journal|url=http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/najla_said_an_open_letter_to_s/|title=Najla Said: An Open Letter to Shakira: We Are Not All Israel|journal=Guernica|date=June 24, 2011}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120513095802/http://imeu.net/news/article005785.shtml Najla Said: Actor and playwright], Institute for Middle East Understanding
- [http://www.salon.com/2013/07/28/najla_said_my_arab_american_story_is_not_typical_in_any_way/ Najla Said: "My Arab-American story is not typical in any way"], July 28, 2013. salon.com
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130929022202/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/najla-said/ Actress-writer Najla Said], September 23, 2013. Tavis Smiley Show
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150915015214/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsS/said-najla.html Najla Said on doollee.com]
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Category:21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Actresses from Manhattan
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American women dramatists and playwrights
Category:Actresses from Boston
Category:Writers from Manhattan
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:American writers of Palestinian descent
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