Samir El-Youssef

Samir El-Youssef ( _ar. سمير اليوسف) (born 1965) is a Palestinian writer and critic, who was born in Rashidia, a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, where he lived until he was ten, before moving to Sidon.cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/samir-elyoussef-at-home-with-the-heretic-432650.html|title=Samir El-youssef: At home with the heretic|publisher="The Independent"|author=Matthew J Reisz|date=2007-01-19|accessdate=2008-04-11] He emigrated to Cyprus in 1989 and since 1990 has been living in London, where he studied philosophy and gained a Master of Arts degree from the University of London. In 2000, he was granted British citizenship. He writes in both Arabic and English, and some of his work has been translated into German, Italian, Greek and Norwegian. In 2004, he co-authored a book with Israeli author Etgar Keret, called "Gaza Blues: Different Stories".cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3776305.stm|title=Mid-East writers reach across divide|author=Richard Allen Greene|publisher=BBC News|date=2004-06-04|accessdate=2008-04-11] His latest book, "The Illusion of Return", published in 2007, is his first novel written in English. He is also an essayist with a wide range of interests including literature, politics, philosophy and cultural studies. His essays and reviews have appeared in major Arabic periodicals and newspapers such as the London-based "Al-Hayat", as well as on openDemocracy.net, "The Guardian's" Comment is Free and in the "New Statesman".

In 2005, Swedish PEN granted the Tucholsky award of 2005 to Samir El-Youssef.

Bibliography

*Samir El-Youssef and Etgar Keret: (2004) "Gaza Blues: Different Stories", London: David Paul, ISBN 978-0-954054-24-3
*Samir El-Youssef (2007) "The Illusion of Return", London: Halban, ISBN 978-1-905559-07-7

References

External links

* [http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/samir_el-youssef Articles in the "New Statesman"]
* [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/samir_elyoussef/profile.html Profile at Comment is Free]
* [http://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Samir_El-youssef.jsp Profile at openDemocracy.net]