Amir Tag Elsir, also written as Amir Taj al-Sir, is a poet, novelist, and medical doctor born in 1960 in northern Sudan. He studied medicine at Tanta University in Egypt and at the British Royal College of Medicine. Since then, he has published over 20 books, consisting of novels, biographies and poetry collections. His novel The Grub Hunter (2010) was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2011 while his 2013 novel, 366 was among the winners of the 2015 Katara Prize for the Arabic Novel. Elsir currently works as a medical doctor in Doha, Qatar. Translated from the Arabic by William M. Hutchins. William M. Hutchins was born in 1944 in Kentucky. Majoring in art history at Yale University, he graduated in 1964. His best-known work is his translation of the Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz. He is currently a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.