Mazen Maarouf (1978) is a Palestinian-Icelandic writer, poet, translator and journalist. Born in Beirut to a family of Palestinian refugees, Maarouf holds a maîtrise degree in Chemistry. Mazen has published three collections of poetry: ‘The Camera Doesn’t Capture Birds’ (2004 and 2010), ‘Our Grief Resembles Bread’ (2000), and ‘An Angel Suspended On a Clothesline’ (2012). He is also the author of two short story collections: ‘Jokes for the Gunmen’ (1^st edition 2016, 2^nd edition 2017) and ‘Rats that Licked the Karate Champion’s Ears’ (1^st and 2^nd print 2017, 3^rd print 2018). He was awarded and LiteraturLana prize for poetry in Italy (2015) and Al-Multaqa prize for Arab short story collection for ‘Jokes for the Gunmen’ (2016). ‘Jokes for the Gunmen’ was longlisted for Man Booker International Prize 2019, longlisted for Edinburgh Book festival Award and shortlisted for Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize. He currently lives between Reykjavik and Beirut. Mazen will be speaking and reading at our pub night.