Born 1944, Samakh, Tiberias

    Primary and secondary education in Irbid, Jordan 

    Bachelor of Arts in Arabic Literature, Arab University of Beirut, 1969 

    Chair, Palestinian National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, 2007 

    PA Minister of Culture, 2003-2006

    Chair, Supreme Council for Culture and Education, 2002

    Member, Executive Council, Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO), 1996

    Director General, PLO Department of Culture, 1987

    Deputy Secretary-General, General Union of Arab Writers, 1981–90 

    Secretary General, General Union of Palestinian Writers and Journalists, 1980

    Joined the PLO in1967, appointed to several 

   political, media and cultural positions

    Awarded Palestine Prize for Literature

    Author of several short story collections and 

   novels, including:

Ma’ Al Sama, Arab Booker Prize nominee, 2009

Samakh:  A Lake beyond the Wind, English translation published by Interlink Books, 1998