Jad El-Hage

was born in Beirut in 1946. He is a poet, novelist and playwright, and published his first creative works, poems, in newspapers in 1966. He has worked as a journalist since he was sixteen, and also a book editor and radio broadcaster in Beirut, Paris (Radio Monte Carlo), Athens (Harlequin Arab World), London (BBC World Service) and Sydney.

In 1985 he emigrated to Australia with his family.

His published works include in Arabic, one novel, seven collections of poetry and one of short stories, one play for radio and four for theatre. He has two novels in English – The Last Migration (Panache Publications, Australia, 2002) and The Myrtle Tree (Banipal Books, UK, 2007). Parts of his works have been translated into French, German, Dutch and English.

Jad El Hage divides his time between Melbourne and a small village in north Lebanon.