About the Author

Dina Al-Mahdy holds the position of Head of Projects Coordination Unit, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Library of Alexandria). She is the Chief Operating Officer at Women of Egypt Network. She is also a certified corporate board director at International Finance Corporation; and a certified Digital Marketing Professional from Digital Marketing Institute in Dublin, Ireland. She is Egypt’s Chairperson of the board of directors of Creative Women Organization in Cyprus and Ladies of All Nations Organization (LOANI), UK.

Dina is not only a proficient writer but also serves as a translator for various national and international organizations, including Egypt’s National Center for Translation, UNESCO, UNITAR, UN Women, and numerous others. She has undertaken the translation of numerous publications and articles in both English and Arabic, working with national and international entities as well as publishers. Additionally, she conducts translation workshops on the sidelines of international book fairs and cultural events, while also organizing events focused on empowering women.

Dina’s educational background includes a BA in Language and Translation from the Faculty of Arts, English Department, Alexandria University and a Master’s degree in Translation Studies from the University of Cambridge, UK.

MEMBERSHIPS:

Besides being a reading promoter, she is also an associate at the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA); and a member of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA); the International Association for Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI); the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies (IATIS); Translators Without Borders Organization (TWB); PEN America; the Society of Authors, UK; and International Union of Languages and Translation.

AWARDS:

In 2021, she received WOMEN APPRECIATING WOMEN HONORARY AWARD in appreciation for her endless positive contribution to society. She will be officially inducted into the WAW Hall Of Fame at the 1st Annual Women Appreciating Women (WAW) prestigious virtual awards in Egypt.

In 2020, Dina won The Women Leadership & Excellence Award (in the field of Media) at “The Arab Women In Leadership and Business Summit 2020”, in recognition of her volunteer work at the Women of Egypt Network.

In 2019, she won the First Prize in the Elephant Journal magazine writing contest many times.

Dina shares her articles on her WordPress blog titled A Journey into My World which helps her engage with her fellow translators and writers on translation, writing, literature and positive psychology in both English and Arabic. In 2018, her blog was nominated for The 2018 Liebster Award. Also, the blog post Be Your Own Muse has been selected as one of the best fiction and writing blogs from around the Internet, by the American Author M.C. Tuggle (Compiled for Ambrose Bierce Creative Writing Project).

In 2017, she took part in the Arabic translation of “How the West Was Lost”, by Dambisa Moyo, published by Egypt’s National Center for Translation, which was shortlisted in The 2017 Refaa’ El-Tahtawi Award by the National Center for Translation.

VOLUNTEER WORK:

Throughout her career, she has always aspired to change the current stereotypical image of Arab women as weak and isolated. Her life goal is to empower them and help them make their voices heard around the world, by translating works of female authors and writing stories that deal with Egyptian women’s issues.

Being a women’s rights advocate and a feminist, she has volunteered to write and translate articles about women’s empowerment and their well-being. Based on her strong belief in women’s rights and empowerment, she seeks to take part in projects geared towards these causes. Through her volunteer work and the awareness campaigns about women’s issues and rights that she participated in, she has written about Egyptian women’s feats in all fields and their real-life problems such as sexual harassment, gender-based violence and female genital mutilation.

During her journey, she pursues to explore new territories, bridge cultural gaps, expand her knowledge and advance as a writer and a translator. She is continuously striving to improve and innovate and to pass her knowledge to her peers in her country. She realized that to offer more, she has to learn more. She participated in international events in many countries and that was her starting point to pursue further education and experience in translation and writing. She learned a lot from engaging with Egyptian and international translators, authors and publishers.

Dina’s greatest passions are art, books, poetry, nature, writing, photography, translation, travelling and music. She is in a serious relationship with words. Based on her belief in the power of words to help, heal, hinder, hurt, harm, humiliate and humble, she hopes to inspire as many people as possible through her writings and to change their lives for the better. She is willingly obsessed with Frida Kahlo and is inspired and influenced by Elizabeth Gilbert, Dalai Lama, Paulo Coelho, Naguib Mahfouz and Radwa Ashour. She muses at the world through a lens steeped in mindfulness, adventure and tenderness. She lives for adventure and wakes each morning with the excitement of a new day waiting to unfold at her feet.

Dina shares her thoughts on energy healing, meditation, mindfulness, relationships and the universe on Facebook, Instagram and WordPress.