Hoda Barakat is a Lebanese novelist. She lived most of her early life in Beirut before moving to Paris, where she now resides. She has published six novels, two plays, a book of short stories, and a book of memoirs. Her works are originally written in Arabic and have been translated into English, Hebrew, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Romanian, Dutch, and Greek.
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), also known as "the Arabic Booker," is regarded as the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world.
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.
Khaled Khalifa is a Syrian novelist, screenwriter, and poet. He has been nominated three times for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, including being shortlisted twice.
Mansoura Ez-Eldin is an Egyptian novelist and journalist.
Ismail Fahd Ismail or Ismāʿīl Fahd Ismāʿīl. was a Kuwaiti novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. He was acclaimed as the finest and most prolific writer in the history of Kuwait, with over twenty novels and numerous short story collections and publications.
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.
Jabbour Douaihy was a critically-acclaimed Lebanese writer, translator, and professor of literature. His novels were nominated four times for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, and he has also published translations, short story collections, and children's books. His work, mostly originally in Arabic, has been translated several languages, including English and French.
Inaam Kachachi is an Iraqi journalist and author. Inaam is an Iraqi writer, born in Baghdad in 1952. She studied journalism at Baghdad University, working in Iraqi press and radio before moving to Paris to complete a PhD at the Sorbonne. She is currently the Paris correspondent for London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat and Kol Al-Usra magazine in Sharjah, UAE. Kachachi has published a biography, Lorna, about the British journalist Lorna Hales, who was married to the famous pioneering Iraqi sculptor Jawad Salim, and a book in French about Iraqi women's literature produced in times of war. She produced and directed a documentary about Naziha Al Dulaimi, the first woman to become minister of an Arab country, in 1959. Her first novel Heart Springs appeared in 2005 and her second novel The American Granddaughter, was shortlisted for IPAF in 2009. An English translation of the novel was published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing in 2010.
Abbas Beydoun is a Lebanese poet, novelist and journalist. He was born in the village of Sur near Tyre in southern Lebanon. His father was a teacher. Beydoun studied at the Lebanese University in Beirut and the Sorbonne in Paris. He was involved in left-wing politics and spent time in jail as a young man in 1968 and 1982.
The International Prize for Arabic Fiction Nadwa is an annual writers' workshop for young writers from the Arab world. Held under the aegis of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, the nadwa is the first such workshop for Arab writers and has been an annual event since 2009.
Mansour El Souwaim is a Sudanese writer and journalist. He has published both novels and short stories. He was invited to join the first IPAF Nadwa as well as the Beirut39 young Arab writers project, and has received international recognition through translations of his novels into English and French.
Nasser al-Dhaheri is an Emirati writer and journalist.
Egyptian king El Azab is an Egyptian writer and novelist.
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.
Sara al-Jarwan is an Emirati novelist, short story writer and playwright. Born in Ajman, she joined the UAE armed forces as a soldier just before the 1991 Gulf War. This experience was the basis of a book as well as a play. She also served as an editor of Dara al-Watan, the magazine of the armed forces.
Mohammed Abdel Nabi is an Egyptian writer. He studied languages at Al-Azhar University.
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.
Mohammed ʽEissa al-Muʼadab is a Tunisian writer. He was born in 1966.
