Abbās Mahmūd al-Aqqād was an Egyptian journalist, poet and literary critic, and member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo. More precisely, because "his writings cover a broad spectrum, including poetry, criticism, Islamology, history, philosophy, politics, biography, science, and Arabic literature", he is perceived to be a polymath.
Ahlem Mosteghanemi, alternatively written Ahlam Mosteghanemi is an Algerian writer who has been called "the world's best-known arabophone woman novelist".
Zakaria Tamer, also called Zakariya Tamir, is an influential master of the Arabic-language short story.
Ibrāhīm Kūnī is a Libyan writer and one of the most prolific Arabic novelists.
Egyptian literature traces its beginnings to ancient Egypt and is some of the earliest known literature. Indeed, the Egyptians were the first culture to develop literature as we know it today, that is, the book.
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is a literary prize managed in association with the Booker Prize Foundation in London, and supported by the Emirates Foundation in Abu Dhabi. The prize is specifically for prose fiction by Arabic authors, along the lines of the Man Booker Prize. Each year, the winner of the prize receives US$50,000 and the six shortlisted authors receive US$10,000 each.
Sinan Antoon, is an Iraqi poet, novelist, scholar, and literary translator. He has been described as "one of the most acclaimed authors of the Arab world." He is an associate professor at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.
The American University in Cairo Press is the leading English-language publisher in the Middle East.
Fawwaz Tuqan is a Jordanian-Palestinian poet, novelist and professor. He was born on 6 September 1940 to a notable Palestinian family in Jordan. His father is Ahmad Abdul Fattah Tuqan, a former Prime Minister of Jordan.
Mahmoud Saeed is an Iraqi-born American novelist.
The Banipal Prize, whose full name is the Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, is an annual prize awarded to a translator for the published English translation of a full-length literary work in the Arabic language. The prize was inaugurated in 2006 by the literary magazine Banipal which promotes the diffusion of contemporary Arabic literature through English translations and the Banipal Trust for Arab Literature. It is administered by the Society of Authors in the UK, and the prize money is sponsored by Omar Saif Ghobash and his family in memory of Ghobash's late father Saif Ghobash. As of 2009, the prize money amounted to £3000.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is "one of the most prestigious and well-funded prizes in the Arab World." It is presented yearly to "Arab writers, intellectuals, publishers as well as young talent whose writings and translations of humanities have scholarly and objectively enriched Arab cultural, literary and social life." The award was established in memory of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the principal architect of United Arab Emirates, the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE for over 30 years (1971–2004). The first award was in 2007. The total value of the prizes is DH 7,000,000 making it one of the richest literary awards in the world.
Ma'ruf bin Abdul Ghani al Rusafi (1875–1945) was a poet, educationist and literary scholar from Iraq. He is considered by many as a controversial figure in modern Iraqi literature due to his advocacy of freedom and opposition to imperialism and is known as a poet of freedom.
Alessandro Spina (1927–2013) was the pen name of Basili Shafik Khouzam. Born in Benghazi into a family of Syrian Maronites that originally hailed from Aleppo, Syria, Khouzam was educated in Milan and published his first story in Nuovi Argomenti. Following his return to Benghazi in 1954, Khouzam spent the next twenty-five years managing his father's textile factory in Benghazi while continuing to write in his spare time. Khouzam eventually left Libya in 1979 and retired to Franciacorta, Italy. Khouzam was associated with various leading Italian writers of his time, including Alberto Moravia, Giorgio Bassani, Vittorio Sereni, and Claudio Magris and his novels were published by various imprints such as Mondadori and Garzanti. His major opus was I confini dell'ombra, a sequence of eleven historical novels and short story collections that chart the history of his native city from the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 to the exploitation of Libya's vast oil reserves in 1964. Although Khouzam individually published each instalment of his epic throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the entire sequence was finally issued as a 1268-page omnibus edition by Morcelliana in 2006 and was then awarded the Bagutta Prize in 2007. His work has been compared to that of Paul Bowles and Albert Cossery
Arab studies or Arabic studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Arabs and Arab World. It consists of several disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, historiography, archaeology, Anthropology, Cultural studies, Economics, Geography, History, International relations, Law, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Political science, Public administration and Sociology. The field draws from old Arabic chronicles, records and oral literature, in addition to written accounts and traditions about Arabs from explorers and geographers in the Arab World.
Ethan Chorin is a Middle East and Africa-focused scholar and entrepreneur. He is known as a leading analyst of Libyan affairs, and for his applied development work in the Middle East and Africa, in the area of environmental science and healthcare.
Youssef Rakha is an Egyptian writer. His work explores language and identity in the context of Cairo, and reflects connections with the Arab-Islamic canon and world literature. He has worked in many genres in both Arabic and English, and is known for his essays and poems as well as his novels.
Najwa Binshatwan is a Libyan academic and author. She was one of 39 Arabic language writers under the age of 40 selected for the anthology Beirut39 in 2009. Her novel Zareeb Al-Abeed was shortlisted for the 2017 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
