Amir Tag Elsir is a Sudanese writer born in the north of Sudan in 1960 who currently lives in Doha, Qatar.  He has published two biographies, a poetry collection, and ten novels. He studied medicine in Egypt and Great Britain and notes on his website that he worked for many years in Sudan as a gynecologist before he moved his practice to Qatar.  He began by writing poetry, but shifted to novels in 1987, and published his first novel in 1988.  His most important novels are The Dowry of Cries, The Copt’s Worries,  French Perfume,  and Crawling Ants. His novel Sa’id al-Yaraqat [The Grub Hunter] was shortlisted for the Arab Booker Prize in 2010.