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42 43 BIOGRAPHY OF PROF. NOR FARIDAH ABDUL MANAF The conferment of the title Professor Emerita upon Prof. Dr. Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf is both an honour and a testament to an academic career shaped by profound literary insight, academic leadership, as well a voice of poetic grace. Her career, which spans more than three decades at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), is marked by her unyielding commitment to scholarship that bridges literatures in English with postcolonial perspectives and Islamic worldviews. Born in Bentong, Pahang, in 1963, Professor Nor Faridah has carved a path that is at once deeply rooted and remarkably global in character. She received her BA in English (Hons) from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, which was followed by her MA in English from the Renaissance University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. Her doctoral journey culminated in a PhD in New Literatures in English from Flinders University, Australia in 1998. Her relentless academic pursuits led her to some of the world’s most prestigious institutions with appointments as a Fulbright Scholar at Cornell University, New York in 2007, and a Mevlana Visiting Scholar in Seljuk University, Konya, Turkey in 2018. These wide-ranging experiences helped prepare her for key leadership roles at IIUM, most notably her appointment as Deputy Rector of Internationalisation and Global Network from 2018 until 2020. Alongside her academic pursuits, she has cultivated a creative path where travel is intertwined with poetry and prose. Her poetry collections, The Art of Naming: A Muslim Woman’s Journey (2006) and Travel Poetry (2019) draw from her experiences whilst abroad, thus manifesting both autobiographical reflection with poetic exploration. In 2022, Professor Nor Faridah published her first novel in Bahasa Melayu entitled Wanita Rawa Terakhir, a celebration of her Rawa ancestral roots, a literary act of cultural preservation. In 2024, she published her first collection of short stories in Bahasa Melayu, Dari Jambu Rias ke Conakry , which is a tribute to the empowerment of Muslim Malay women. Her creative work has also been recognised with honours, which include the 1997 Literary Writing Award (short story category) by Public Bank-Utusan Malaysia. As a literary scholar, Professor Nor Faridah has contributed significantly to Islamic Literary Criticism. Her book, The Islamic Interpretation of ‘ Tragic Hero’ in Shakespearean Tragedies, published in 2001, interrogates Western views of the figure of the ‘tragic hero’ and problematises it from an Islamic lens, while her co-authored volume with Professor M.A. Quayum, From Colonial to Global: Malaysian Women’s Writing in English, 1940s - 1990s (2001) remains a cornerstone in the study of women’s literature in Malaysia. Her scholarship has also helped shape national education. In particular, her influential work Critical Analysis of Bloom's Taxonomy in Teaching Creative and Critical Thinking Skills in Malaysia through English Literature (2017) advocates literature as an important tool for cultivating creativity and critical thinking in young Malaysians. Yet, Professor Nor Faridah’s vision has always gone beyond classrooms, books, and theories. Guided by her belief that education must be globalised and at the same time Islamise the minds of our youth, she had created platforms and forced opportunities which integrated intellectual inquiry with cultural and artistic expression. With local and international colleagues and students, she spearheaded initiatives that positioned IIUM as a centre of international dialogue. One of these is The Biennial Asia-Pacific Symposium (AsiaPac), which IIUM had the honour of hosting in 2008 and 2017 and brought together participants from more than eleven countries. Additionally, there was also the Asia-Pacific Indigenous Folklore Plays, where traditional stories from Asia, the Middle East and beyond came to life on stage. Organised in the wake of the events of 9/11, these endeavours were particularly significant as they opened windows of understanding and opportunity for non-Muslim participants to encounter Islam through art, literature and culture. Professor Nor Faridah’s impact, however, extends beyond academia and the written word. She has lent her voice and expanded her energy to numerous non-profit and community initiatives, underscoring a scholar’s responsibility to their society. Nonetheless, above all, what endures most profoundly are the memories and gratitude of the countless students she has guided at IIUM. She is not only a teacher, but also a mentor.Professor Nor Faridah holds a distinguished place in the landscape of Malaysian academia, one that is marked by excellence, service, and creativity. Her conferment as Professor Emerita is a recognition of her remarkable contributions and a tribute to her enduring influence on generations of academics, writers, and students. EMERITA PROFESSOR