Place and Date of Birth: Lebanon, 1945
Nationality: Lebanese

Education
Doctorat in Lettres Modernes, Paris III, 1974
D.E.A. in Linguistics, Paris V , 1978

Teaching Experience
Teacher of Arabic Language for Foreigners, Université de Paris III, 1972-1974
Professor of Arabic, Lebanese University, 1974-2008
Visiting Professor, Université de Toulouse, April-May 1999
Adjunct Faculty at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut, 2008-2013

Publications
Various publications in Arabic on rhetoric, linguistics and literature

Fiction

1982, Unsi yalhu ma’a rita: kitab al-baligin [“Unsi is Playing with Rita: A Book for Adults”], al-Mu’assasa l-Jami’iyya li-l-dirasat wa-l-nasr, Beirut. Translated into:
-Spanish by M. Luz Comendador and Gonzalo Fernandez under the title Unsi y Rita se diviverten, UCLM, 2006.

1983, Al-Mustabidd [“The Tyrant”], Dar ab’ad, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001

1986, Fusha mustahdafa bayna l-nu’as wa-l-nawm, Mukhtarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001.
Translated into:
-French by Luc Barbulesco and Philippe Cardinal under the title Passage au Crépuscule, Actes Sud, 1992.
-English by Nirvana Tannuki under the title Passage to Dusk, Austin: Texas University Press, 2001.
-Norwegian by Anne Aabakken under the title Et villet opphold mellom dosighet og sovn, L. S. P. Forlag, 2009.

1987, Ahlu z-zill [“Dwellers of the Shade”], Muhktarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001
Translated into French under the title L’Insolence Du Serpent… ou les créatures de l’ombre by Edgard Weber. AMAM , Toulouse, 1997.

1989, Taqaniyyaatu l-bu’s [“Technicalities of Wretchedness”], Mukhtarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001.

1991, Ghaflat al-Turab [“A Lapse of the Earth”], Mukhtarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001.

1995, Azizi as-sayyid Kawabata. Mukhtarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001.
Translated into the following eight European languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, and Dutch.
German translation: Hartmut Fahndrich, Lieber Herr Kawabata. Basel, Lenos 1998.
English Translation: Paul Starkey, Dear Mr. Kawabata. London: Quartet Books, 1999; reprinted by Interlink Books, U.S.A., 2000.

1997, Nahiyat al-bara’a, al-Masar, Beirut.
Translated into English under the title This Side of Innocence by Paula Haydar, Interlink Books, 2001.

1998, Lerning Inglish [“Learning English”], al-Nahar, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes, Beirut, 2005.
Translated into:
-French under the title Learning English by Yves Gonzalez-Quijano. Paris: Actes Sud, September 2001.
-English under the title Learning English by Paula Haidar, Interlink, 2007.

2001, Tistifil Meryl Streep [ “Meryl Streep can Suit Herself”], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.
Translated into:
-Italian under the title E CHI SE NE FREGA DI MERYL STREEP by Palma D’Amico. Rome: Jouvence, 2003.
-French under the tiltle Qu’elle au Diable Meryl Streep by Edgard Weber. Paris: Actes-Sud, 2004
-Greek under the title Στο διάβολο η Μέριλ Στριπ. Athens: Kedros, 2006.
-Spanish under the title Al diablo con Meryl Streep. Alcala la Real, 2009.

2002, ‘Insay as-Sayyara [ Forget About The Car], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.
Translated into:
-French under the title Fais Voir Tes Jambes Leila by Yves Gonzalez-Quijano. Paris: Actes-Sud, September 2006.
-Portuguese under the title Mostra as pernas, Leila!, Europress, 2008.

2005, Mabad Yanjah Fi Baghdad [Mabad Succeeds in Baghdad], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut. Translated into:
-French under the title Le musicien et le calife de Bagdad, Actes Sud, 2010.

2005, awdatu l ‘almani ‘ila rushdihi [The German Returns To His Senses], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut. Translated into:
-German under the title Die Verschwulung der Welt, suhrkamp, 2006. Download text.

2008, OK ma’ assaleme [OK bye], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.

2011, Tablit el bahr, Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.

Poetry

1979, Hina halla al-sayf ‘ala l-sayf [“When the Sword Replaced the Sun.”
Translated by J.D.Bencheikh as L’Eté au Tranchant de l’Epée Le Sycomore, Paris.

1980, La shay’a yafuqu l-wasf [“Nothing is Above Description”], Mansurat lubnan al-gadid, Beirut.

1992, Ayyu thalgin yahbut bi-salam [“What Snow ever Falls in Peace”], Mukhtarat, Beirut.

Film

A film entitled Passage Au Crépuscule based upon the novel of the same title was directed by the Swiss director Simon Edelstein and released in Geneva in 2000.

A film entitled Zennar An Nar based upon the novel entitled Al Mustabid directed by The Lebanese director Bahij HOJEIJ 2002.

Theatre

A play entitled Qu’elle Aille au diable Meryl Streep based upon the of the same title was written by the Algerian French Scenarist Mhammad Qacimi, and produced by Nidal Achqar, in Arabic and French. It was played in the “Théâtre du Rond-Point”, Champs-Elysées, Paris.