Vénus Khoury-Ghata (born 1937 in Bsharri, Lebanon) is a French-Lebanese poet and writer.

Early life

Venus Khoury-Ghata was born into a Maronite family, the daughter of a French-speaking soldier and a peasant mother. She is the older sister of the author May Menassa. In 1959, she won the Miss Beirut Pageant. She immigrated to France to escape the war in Lebanon and married French doctor Jean Ghata, son of Turkish calligrapher, Rikkat Kunt and her second husband, Fahreddin Ghata. She has lived in Paris since 1972 and has published several novels and collections of poems. Her daughter Yasmine Ghata is also a renowned writer.

Career

Venus Khoury-Ghata undertook literary studies at L'École Supérieur Des Lettres de Beirut. She published her first literary collection in 1966 and 1967 "Terres Stagnantes", "Chez Seghers", and then in 1971 she published her first novel, "Les Inadaptés". In 2009, she received the Grand Prix de Poésie of the French Academy and the Goncourt Prize for Poetry in 2011. In 2018, she became a member of the Parliament of French-speaking writers alongside many writers, including Sedef Ecer, Paula Jacques and Khadi Hane.

Literary Awards

Honours

Works