Tawfiq Yusuf AWWAD (1911-1988, Lebanon)

Best known for Death in Beirut (amazon.com; amazon.co.uk), which tells the story of a Shia village girl and foreshadows the Lebanese civil war.

Turki al-HAMAD (Saudi Arabia)

Author of a controversial trilogy that was banned in several Arab countries and became the target of four fatwas: Adama (amazon.com; amazon.co.uk), Shumaisi (amazon.com; amazon.co.uk) and Karadib (not available in English).