Name: Abbas Baydoun Country: Lebanon

Baydoun was born in Lebanon 1945. He majored in Arabic Literature at Beirut Arab University. He received his MA from the Sorbonne University in France 1979.  He has worked for several prominent Lebanese newspapers and magazines, including Al Wasat and Mulhaq An Nahar. He has been the cultural editor at Assafir Newspaper since 1997. Baydoun is a poet and novelist. His works include Sour, Ziwar Shatwi Ulah, Nakid Al Kalam, Shajarah Tachbeh Hatab, BBB, Al Mawt Ya’akz , Makasatina, Mahjourat, Mareed Wal Amal, Lafzah Fi Al Bared, Tahlil Dem, Rubama kalilan ala Arjah, several of which have been translated from Arabic into French, German and Italian.

Name: Hassan Daoud Country: Lebanon

Daoud was born in Beirut in 1950. He majored in Arabic Literature at the Lebanese University. In 1979 he joined Assafir newspaper, rising to the position of Cultural Editor. He then spent ten years as Cultural Editor at Al Hayat newspaper. Since 1999 he has been editor of the weekly cultural supplement at Al Mustaqbal.Daoud is the author of seven novels and two short stories. His first novel, The House of Matilde was published in 1983 and was translated into English. His other books are: Tahta Shurfit Angie, Rawd Al Hayat Al Mahzoun, Borrowed Days, Nuzhit Malak, Revolutionary Book of New Bread Making Machine, Ghinaa Al Batreek, Maquillage khafif li hazi al Lailah.

Name: Mohamed Barrada Country: Morocco

Barrada was born in Rabat in 1938. He received a PhD in literature, sociology and criticism from the Sorbonne University in 1973. His he taught literature and criticism in King Mohammed Al-Khames University in Morocco (1964 – 1998). From 1976-1983 he was elected three times as the Chairman of League of Moroccan Writers.

He has written novels and short stories and translated from French into Arabic. His novels include Like a Summer That Will Not Come Back (2001), Lumiere fuyant (1993) and Le jeu de l’oubli (1987). Currently Barrada writes for Al-Hayat newspaper and lives in Brussels

Name: Khaled Khalifeh Country: Syria

Khalifa was born in Aleppo in 1964. He holds a BA in law from Aleppo University. He has written many successful scenarios for TV series, as well as for the cinema. He also writes regularly in different Arabic newspapers. He has published three novels one of which, In Praise Of Hatred, was short-listed for the first International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2008.