Khaled Al Khamissi born September 27, 1962 to Egyptian actress Faten El Choubachi and poet Abdel Rahman Al Khamissi Lenin Peace Prize (1979) is an Egyptian novelist, columnist, lecturer, writer and cultural activist.
Upon his mother's death when he was five, Al Khamissi was raised by his maternal grandfather Moufid El Choubachi, also a poet, writer and critic.
He grew up in a book-lined home, where politics, literature and art were constantly discussed.
Al Khamissi obtained a degree in Political Science from Cairo University in 1984 and a Master's degree in International Politics from the Sorbonne in 1987.
His two fiction works, Taxi and Noah’s Ark, have provided Arabic and non-Arabic readers with insight into Egyptian society in the last decade.
His first non fiction book: 2011 was published in 2014.
As a columnist, his articles in Egypt and abroad show a blend of his background as a political analyst and fiction writer.
He has been a jury member in a number of film festivals, and Chairman of the board of the Greater Cairo public Library since 2014.
He regularly delivers lectures in international universities and book fairs on literature and film.
A believer that cultural progress is the necessary precursor to social change, following the Egyptian revolution of 2011, Al Khamissi set up Doum , a cultural foundation designed to promote critical thinking.
Founder and president of story telling festival in Qena
Founder and president of literary festival in MansouraHis novels have been translated into 16 languages including: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Malaysian, Korean, Polish, Greek, Kurdish and others.