21ST CENTRAL WESTERN ASIA

• Abdullah Qodiriy

  He was known by the pseudonym Julqunboy. He was one of the most influential Uzbek writers of the 20th century and Soviet playwright, poet, writer, and literary translator. His most famous work is the historical novel O'tgan kunlar (Days Gone By), the first Uzbek full-length novel.
• Mukhtar Auez-uli

  He was an early Soviet Kazakh writer and won recognition for the long novel "Abay" which is based on the life and poetry of Kunanbay-uli.
• Chingiz Aytmatov

  He was a Soviet and Kyrgyz author and the best-known figure in Kyrgyz and Russian literature. "Jamila", his first major novel was told from the viewpoint of a fictional character that tells the story by looking back on his childhood. The story recounts the love between his new sister-in-law Jamilya and a local crippled young man, Daniyar, while Jamilya's husband, Sadyk, is "away at the front" (as a Soviet soldier during World War II).
• Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad

  He was an Egyptian poet, journalist, and literary critic, an innovator of the 20th century Arabic poetry and criticism. He became famous for his Abqariyat series, a seven-book compilation that covers the life of seven of the most important Sahabah (the disciples and followers of Muhammad).
• Taha Hussein

  He was an Egyptian novelist, essayist, critic, and an outstanding figure in Egyptian literature. His nickname was "The Dean of Arabic Literature". He wrote the novelized autobiography "The Days", one of the most popular works of modern Arabic literature that deals with his childhood in a small village, then his studies in Egypt and France.
• Ali Ahmad Said Esber

  He is known also as Adonis as his pseudonym. He is an award-winning Syrian-born Lebanese poet, literary critic, and is a leader of the modernist movement in contemporary Arabic poetry. He was the recipient of numerous honors, including the 2011 Goethe Prize and the 2017 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International. Some of his famous poems are "First Poems" and "Leaves in the Wind".
• Etgar Keret

  He is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. His 2019 Fly Already ("Glitch at the Edge of the Galaxy") published in English won Israel's prestigious Sapir Prize in Literature.