Her writings include two volumes of short stories, ten critical studies, and many translations from world literature.

She was born to a family that took pride in educating its female members[4] and therefore she was able to take advantage of her father's extensive library of works at an early age.

Exposure to authors like Taha Hussein, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, and Ibn Iyas helped advance her literary talent and shape her voice as a writer.

[4] She became the first young girl to attend Cairo University and the only female among fourteen males to study Arabic Literature.

She was also the director of the government affiliated Egyptian Organization for Publishing and Distributing where she worked to broaden the audience of readers, encourage young writers, and promote the book industry.

[6] Starting as early as 1935, she published a wide array of literary works including short stories, critical studies, cultural magazines, and translations.

In Ahadith Jaddati (My Grandmother’s Tales), al-Qalamawi analyzes the female social role as a preserver and renewer of community history through oral narrative in this work.

She develops this story line into a social criticism and vision of wartime form the perspective of the civilians who stayed home.

[6] Her translations of works such as Chinese stories by Pearl Buck (1950) and Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” (1964) further illustrate women's struggles and the need to re-educate men.

[6] Al-Qalamawi also founded and released several cultural magazines that dealt with contemporary subjects such as cinema, music and the arts.

[5] Her work has been received warmly by critics;[7] many regard her as a "remarkable literary figure of the contemporary cultural movement in Egypt.