Latifa al-Zayyat (Arabic: لطيفة الزيات, romanized: Laṭīfah al-Zayyāt; 8 August 1923 – 10 September 1996) was an Egyptian activist and writer, most famous for her novel The Open Door, which won the inaugural Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.

[3] She was again imprisoned in 1981, while she was heading the Committee for the Defense of National Culture which had been established in opposition to the Camp David accords.

[4] Two of Al Zayyat's novels are translated to English, The Owner of the House and The Open Door.

The latter, published in 1960, was strikingly modern for its time, both for its use of colloquial Egyptian Arabic and for its depiction of the main character's political and sexual awakening.

[6] Al-Zayyat also wrote many essays on women and critiques as well as reviews of novels and political happenings.