Ahlam Mosteghanemi is an Algerian poet and writer. She was the first Algerian woman to write poetry and fiction in Arabic. She has published four novels and six anthologies, and is best known for her 1993 novel Memory of the Flesh. In 2007 and 2008, she was ranked #96 and #58 respectively as the most influential Arab by the Arabian Business magazine.
Mohamed Choukri was a Moroccan author and novelist who is best known for his internationally acclaimed autobiography For Bread Alone, which was described by the American playwright Tennessee Williams as "a true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact".
Mohammed Bennis is a Moroccan poet and one of the most prominent writers of modern Arabic poetry. Since the 1970s, he has enjoyed a particular status within Arab culture. Muhsin J al-Musawi states that "Bennis’ articulations tend to validate his poetry in the first place, to encapsulate the overlapping and contestation of genres in a dialectic, that takes into account power politics whose tropes are special. As a discursive threshold between Arab East and the Moroccan West, tradition and modernity, and also a site of contestation and configuration, Muhammad Bennis' self-justifications may reveal another poetic predilection, too."
Mohamed Saïd Raïhani is a Moroccan translator, novelist and short-story writer born on December 23, 1968, in Ksar el Kebir, north of Morocco. He is a member of Moroccan Writers’ Union, holder of a PhD degree in Translation from King Fahd Advanced School of Translation in Tangier/Morocco, an M.A. degree in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, a second M.A. degree in Translation, Communication & Journalism from King Fahd Advanced School of Translation and a B.A. degree in English Literature from Abdelmalek Essaadi University in Tétouan/Morocco.
Ali Bader is an Iraqi novelist and a script writer, regarded as the most significant writer to emerge in Arabic world in the last decade. author of eighteen works of fiction, and several works of non-fiction. His best-known works include Papa Sartre, The Tobacco Keeper, The Running after the Wolves, and The Sinful Woman, several of which have won awards. His novels are quite unlike any other fictions in Arabic world of our day, as they blend character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, and explicit language. Bader was born in Baghdad, where he studied western philosophy and French literature. He now lives in Brussels.
Humphrey T. Davies was a British translator of Arabic fiction, historical and classical texts. Born in Great Britain, he studied Arabic in college and graduate school. He worked for decades in the Arab world and was based in Cairo from the late 20th century to 2021. He translated at least 18 Arabic works into English, including contemporary literature. He is a two-time winner of the Banipal Prize.
Wajdi al-Ahdal is a Yemeni novelist, short story writer and playwright. Laureate of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) in 2008, is known for his contemporary literary style and sometimes socially critical works, some of which have been censored in Yemen. Until 2019, he has published five novels, four collections of short stories, a play and a film screenplay.
The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award begun in the UAE. 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 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.
Kamel Riahi or Kamal Riahi, born 1974 in Manafikh, Tunisia), is a Tunisian writer. He teaches in Algeria. Excerpts from two of his novels have been translated into English: The Scalpel and Gorilla. Riahi has been translated into English, French, Italian and Hebrew. He was one of the 39 Arab writers under 40 years who were selected for the anthology Beirut39.
Mekkawi Said was an Egyptian novelist and short story writer.
Bashir Mufti is an Algerian novelist and writer. He was born in Algiers and started writing in the mid-1980s. He has published a number of novels and short story collections.
Waciny Laredj is an Algerian novelist, short story writer and academic.
The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is an Arabic literary prize based in Qatar. It was established in 2014 by the Katara Cultural Village. The total prize pool is $650,000 and the main prize $200,000, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world. One of its sponsors is UNESCO. The winning novels will be translated into five languages - including French and English.
Kamel Daoud is an Algerian writer and journalist. He currently edits the French-language daily Le quotidien d’Oran, for which he writes a popular column, "Raïna Raïkoum". The column often includes commentary on the news.
Amara Lakhous is an Italian author, journalist and anthropologist of Algerian origin. He currently lives in New York City.
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.
Abdelouahab Aissaoui is an Algerian writer. He was born in Djelfa and studied engineering at Zayan Ashour University. He has written a series of novels, the most recent of which, The Spartan Court, won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) in 2020.
Mirzaq Biqtash, Algerian writer and novelist. He published more than fifteen novels, translations, and short stories. His last work was the novel "The Rain Writers His Biography", which won the Assia Djebar Prize for Fiction in its third session, 2017. He died on 2 January 2021, at the age of 75.
Youcef Zirem is an Algerian writer, activist and journalist.
June Rain is a 2006 novel written by Lebanese critic and writer Jabbour Douaihy. The novel was published in 2006 by Dar Al-Nahar for Publishing and Distribution by Dar Al-Saqi’s in London. It has been translated to French, Italian, German, and English. The book was also shortlisted for the 2008 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
