Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006) was the most important Arabic writer of his generation. He is the author of over thirty novels, including The Cairo Trilogy, Thief and the Dog, Miramar, and Children of the Alley. He is the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. Aran Byrne is a senior editor and translator at Haus Publishing. Rasheed El-Enany is professor emeritus of Arabic literature at the University of Exeter.