Mohammed al-Owain

Mohammed Abdullah al-Owain (born 1958) is a media professional, university professor, and columnist. He worked as a radio announcer at Riyadh Radio, then moved to Saudi TV Channel One. Later, he transitioned to academia, serving as an assistant professor at the College of Arabic Language in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Mohammed al-Owain was born in Hawtat Bani Tamim, south of Riyadh, where he completed all stages of his basic education. After graduating from high school, he moved to Riyadh for further studies, earning a bachelor's degree from the College of Arabic Language at Imam Mohammed Bin Saud University in 1980. He later obtained a master's degree from the same college in 1990 with his thesis titled “The Essay in Modern Saudi Literature from 1924 to 1980.” He also earned a doctorate from the same college in 1999 with his dissertation titled “The Image of Women in Saudi Stories from 1930 to 1997: A Historical, Critical, and Thematic Study.”

Mohammed al-Owain began his career as a radio announcer at Riyadh Radio in 1979, where he prepared and presented several programs, including social and cultural ones such as Reportage, Between Two Tastes, and Tonight’s Guest. He later transitioned to working at Saudi TV Channel One, contributing to the preparation and presentation of numerous programs, including Cultural Reviews and With the Events. In addition to his on-air roles, he held administrative positions in radio and television, such as Head of the Announcers Department at the radio station and Director of the Talk Shows Department on television. He was also responsible for selecting and training announcers for several years. Furthermore, he served as Director General of Media and Publishing at the Ministry of Culture and Information’s Cultural Affairs Agency (during the merger of the two ministries). After thirty years in media, he transitioned to academia, becoming an Assistant Professor in the Department of Literature at the College of Arabic Language at Imam Mohammed Bin Saud University in 2009. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue (currently King Abdulaziz Center for Cultural Communication).

Mohammed al-Owain engaged in various journalistic activities. He worked as an editor and writer at al-Jazirah newspaper in 1979 and later became the supervisor of its literary section. He was then assigned as the head of the cultural section at al-Masa’iyyah newspaper from 1982 to 1987. For two years, starting in 1988, he worked as a cultural supervisor at al-Riyadh newspaper. He subsequently became the head of the cultural section at al-Yamamah magazine from 1990 to 1993. In addition to his journalism career, he published a collection of articles that he later compiled into books. He also wrote critical articles under the pseudonym "Ibn Battuta" and has maintained a weekly column in al-Jazirah newspaper since 2009, addressing various intellectual, literary, and cultural issues with literary styles characterized by boldness, openness, and critical intensity.

In an article written by Mohammed al-Owain in al-Jazirah newspaper in 2020, he announced that he would take an "open-ended break from writing," after having published nearly two thousand articles, both long and short, in the newspaper.

Mohammed al-Owain has authored several books, including "Ramblings of Chaos in Thought and Literature" (1986), "A Spontaneous Mind," "The Essay in Modern Saudi Literature" (1991), "The Image of Women in Saudi Stories" (2002), "Encounters: Bold Biographies and Insights with Cultural and Literary Figures" (2006), "Letters of Ibn Battuta" and "Rebellious Feminine Writings" (2008), "Issues of Saudi Women Through Narrative" (2009), and "The Experience of a Radical Boy: A Narrative Biography" (2011).