Ahmad Ali El Zein (born 1956) is a Lebanese novelist, documentary film maker and television journalist. He is best known for his trilogy of novels, ''The Edge of Oblivion'' (2007), ''Suhbat al-Tayer'' (2010) and ''Barid al-Ghouroub'' (2014). He lives between Europe and the Middle East, where he shoots ''Rawafed'', a series of documentaries on Arab intellectuals and artists broadcast on

Al Arabiya News Channel AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (Aladdin), Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (EastEnders), Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British ...

Biography

Ahmad Ali El Zein was born in March 1956 in the village of

Akkar al-Atika Akkar al-Atika ( ar, عكار العتيقه, ʿAkkar al-ʿAtiqa; also spelled Akkar al-Atiqa) is a town and municipality located in the Akkar Governorate in northern Lebanon. It is about north of Beirut. Akkar al-Atika contains the 11th-century ...

, north

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, to Ali El-Zein and Fatima al-Mohamad. He grew up in a rural and pastoral environment in the Lebanese northern mountains of Akkar amid thick woods. El Zein studied music and theatre at the Lebanese University, Beirut. He started as a journalist in 1978 and wrote cultural essays, articles and editorials for ''al-Nida'' newspaper, '' Annahar'', ''

Assafir ''As-Safir'' ( ar, السفير, lit=The Ambassador), was a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. The headquarters of the daily was in Beirut. It was in circulation from March 1974 until December 2016. The last issue of the paper wa ...

'', '' al-Hayat'' and ''Zahrat al-Khalij''. In 1986, he produced, wrote and presented dozens of comedies and political shows for Radio Sawt al-Sha’b. For television, he directed documentary films (1992–1994) portraying contemporary Lebanese artists, singers, musicians, writers and poets for Tele Liban. From 1997 to 2000, he contributed to the editing and production of several episodes of the talk show ''Hiwar al-Omr'', presented by Gisel Khoury and broadcast on Lbc Channel. On Abu Dhabi TV in 2001–2003, he edited and directed ''Qiraat'', a program presenting the latest and most important books. He also wrote, edited and directed a series of short documentaries on celebrities of the 20th century such as

Zakariyya Ahmad Zakariyya Ahmad ( ar, زكريا أحمد; born 1896 in Faiyum, Egypt –1961) was an Egyptian musician and composer. He mainly sang religious songs as a member of several groups from 1919 to 1929, having studied recitation of the Qur'an u ...

, Mohammed Abdel Wahab,

Asmahan Amal al-Atrash ( ar, آمال الأطرش ', North Levantine ; November 25, 1918 – July 14, 1944),

, Oum Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Farid al-Atrash, Laila Murad, Mohamed El Qasabgi and Fairuz. One of his plays, ''Ru'ya'' (Vision)], was staged at the UNESCO Castle Theatre in Beirut in 2000. He wrote ''Al-Tayoun'' (1988), ''Khirbat al-Nawwah'' (1992), ''Ma'bar al-Nadam'' (1998) and ''Hafat al-Nisyan'' (2007). '' The Edge of Oblivion'', the first volume of his Thulathiyat Abdul Jalil Ghazal trilogy, was serialised in ''Banipal'', It was followed by ''Sohbat al-Tayer'' (2011) and ''Barid al-Ghouroub'' (2014). In 2003, El Zein started shooting a series of documentaries entitled ''

Rawafed Rawafed is a flagship Al Arabiya television programme, consisting of half-hour documentary broadcast once a week (Wednesday) on Al Arabiya News Channel. Its host and director is Ahmad Ali El Zein, whose style of smooth questioning brought a huge ...

'' and broadcast on

. ''Rawafed'' was awarded the golden prize for the best cultural and educational program at the 10th Gulf Media Festival.

List of works

Novels * ''Al-Tayoun'', 1988 * ''Khirbat al-Nawah'', 1992 * ''Ma'bar al-Nadam'', 1998 * ''Hafat al-Nisyan'', 2007 * ''Suhbat al-Tayr'', 2010 * ''Barid al-Ghorub'', 2014 Play * ''Ru'ya''

References

Sources

* .

External links

alarabiya.netBanipal: Excerpt from The Edge of Oblivion Translated by Thomas Aplin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zein, Ahmad Ali 1955 births Living people Lebanese journalists Lebanese novelists