Youssef Bazzi
is a young poet and journalist, well-known in Beirut. He was born in Beirut in 1966 and worked as a journalist in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. In his teens he joined one of the fighting militia groups to fight in the Lebanese civil war, fleeing to Africa in 1986. He now lives back in Beirut and works in the culture section of al-Mustaqbal, a Lebanese daily newspaper.
He has four poetry collections, and has been awarded the Yousef al-Khal Poetry Prize. In 2005, his fast-paced narrative Yasser Arafat Looked at me and Smiled describing the inveigling horrors of civil war and militiia life, was published in Arabic and English (translated by Rasha Salti).
See the review of Yasser Arafat Looked at me and Smiled in Banipal No 25.
Contributor's Issues
Banipal No 28 Spring 2007
Banipal No 36 Literature in Yemen Today
Latest News
06/02/2012At a celebration of literary translation on Monday 6 February at Kings Place, Khaled Mattawa will receive the 2011 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
[read more]03/02/2012
The Mosaic Rooms celebrates theartistic and poetic works of the great Syrian poet Adonis with talks and events from 3-8 February and an exhibition of Adonis's collages from 3 February until 30 March. The opening evening this Friday sees Adonis in conversation with Khaled Mattawa who is the winner of the 2011 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for his translation Adonis: Selected Poems.
[read more]16/01/2012
Khaled Mattawa wins the 2011 Saif Ghobash-Banipal Translation Prize for Adonis:Selected Poems
[read more]12/01/2012
Chair of IPAF Judges Georges Tarabichi announces the shortlist authors of the 2012 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
[read more]09/01/2012
Banipal Book Club's first book for discussion is The Tobacco Keeper by Ali Bader.
[read more]08/01/2012
Ibrahim Aslan, one of Egypt's best-loved authors, has died of heart failure at the age of 77.
[read more][read all news stories]