Youssef Abu Rayya, the 2005 Naguib Mahfouz Medal winner for his novel Laylat ‘urs (published as Wedding Night by the AUC Press in 2006), was born in Hihya in the Nile Delta in 1955 and received his degree in journalism and mass communication from Cairo University in 1977. He is currently a senior specialist at the National Research Center in Cairo, and has been on the governing board of the Egyptian branch of PEN International since 1995.
His first collection of short stories, al-Duha al-‘ali (High Forenoon), was published in 1985, and since then he has written five further short story collections. His first novel, ‘Atash al-sabbar (Cactus Thirst) was published in 1989, followed by Tall al-hawa (Passion Hill) in 1999, al-Gazira al-bayda’ (The White Island) in 2000, Laylat ‘urs (Wedding Night) in 2002, and ‘Ashiq al-hayy (The Lover) in 2005. He has also authored seven books for children, most recently Maghamarat Marco Polo (The Adventures of Marco Polo), which appeared in 2005.
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