Ahmed Isselmou

Mauritanian writer and journalist Ahmed Isselmou was born in Nema in east Mauritania. His published works include the short story collection Awaiting the Past (Beirut: Arab Scientific Publishers, 2015); the novels Perforated Life (Cairo: Dar El-Shorouk, 2020) and Outsider Mode (Beirut: Dar Al Adab, 2021). His Outsider Mode won Mauritanian State Appreciation Award 2023. His short story “Floating Paper” won the Stories on Air competition organized by the Kuwaiti magazine Al-Arabi and BBC Arabic in 2009. Formerly a news producer for Al-Arabiya and Al Aan television and the deputy chief editor at Russia Today, he now works as Editor-in-Chief for News bulletins at Al-Jazeera in Qatar.

Rana Asfour is the Managing Editor at The Markaz Review, as well as a freelance writer, book critic and translator. Her work has appeared in such publications as Madame Magazine, The Guardian UK and The National/UAE. She chairs TMR’s English-language Book Club, which meets online the last Sunday of every month. She tweets @bookfabulous.