Author
Dianna Wray
Dianna Wray is a nationally award-winning journalist and editor from Houston, Texas, and the current editor-in-chief of Houstonia magazine.
Articles by this author
Khobez Timur: A Date-and-Fig Recipe for Better Living
Food
A take on this date-and-fig bread-loaf recipe from the recent 10th-anniversary reissue of Sally Butcher’s New Middle Eastern Street Food does more than just satiate our sweet tooth. It offers a guide for savoring the simpler things in life.
Talking Tut: A Conversation With Author Christina Riggs
History
In Treasured, Riggs, a professor of the history at Durham University in England, details and analyzes complex cultural and political forces behind the scenes, both in Egypt and around the world, that have shaped and determined the nature of King Tut’s post-mortal second act. Here AramcoWorld talks with her about pulling together the real story behind the blue-and-white-striped death mask—and everything the blank-eyed golden face of Tutankhamun has come to represent, both to herself and to the world.
Muslim Perspectives on European Connections: A Conversation With Historian Ian Coller
History
It wasn’t until he found himself thousands of kilometers from his native Australia in September 2001 that Coller, a UCLA-Irvine professor of history, began to realize that his seemingly disparate early interests in French culture, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, his longing to understand the Middle East and his determination to speak Arabic were all parts of his innate fascination with people.
Bibi Zogbé: The Flower Painter
Arts & Culture
Except for a rare self-portrait, Bibi Zogbé painted flowers—exuberant and confident, as well as modern and symbolic, her paintings reflect her life between her native Lebanon and three decades in Argentina.
Refuge in Recipes: The Research Journey of Nawal Nasrallah
Arts & Culture
Food
It was time for the family to sit down for dinner at Nawal Nasrallah’s home in Bloomington, Indiana. Nasrallah had made her 18-year-old daughter Iba’s favorite dish, Iraqi-style eggplant biryani, in honor of the college acceptance letter Iba had just received. Iba spooned the biryani onto her plate, took a bite and burst into tears. “Where am I going to find food like this at school?” she asked.
Pakistani Art Trucks on a Bridge of Culture
Arts & Culture
Colorfully painted trucks are everywhere in Pakistan, but in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a single truck by a renowned artist is helping an arts nonprofit jump-start international cultural appreciation in schools.
Egyptology’s Eloquent Eye: Mohammedani Ibrahim
Arts & Culture
History
As a young man in 1906, Mohammedani Ibrahim joined the work crew of US archeologist George Reisner, who used cameras to record systematically what shovels and picks were unearthing. Ibrahim mastered the technology, and over 30 years he made more than 9,000 exceptionally artful images.
A League of Their Own
History
In the era when baseball emerged as "America" National Pastime," the sons of Syrian Lebanese immigrants were smitten by the sport too— including a leftie slugger in Port Arthur, Texas, named Bill Anawaty.