Salih J Altoma

was born in Iraq. He is Professor Emeritus of Arabic and Comparative Literature at Indiana University, USA, and has been associated with the university since 1964. He was its director of Middle Eastern Studies (1986-1991) and chair of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department (1985-1991). He has published works in Arabic and English on modern Arabic literature, on Arab and Western literary relations, and was guest editor of The Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature, Volume 48, 2000, whose theme was Arab-Western Literary Relations.

In 2006, Saqi Books published his valuable reference work Modern Arabic Literature in Translation: A companion, which covers all translations from Arabic to English from 1947 to 2003.