Yamen Manai is a talented author and engineer who was born in Tunis in 1980 and currently resides in Paris. His parents were both teachers, and he went on to study in France, becoming an engineer specializing in new information technologies.
As an author, Manai explores the complex intersections of past and present, tradition and technology in his prose. He has published three novels with the Tunisia-based Elyzad Editions, a deliberate choice to ensure that his books are accessible to Tunisian readers. His first book to be translated into English, The Ardent Swarm (originally published as L'Amas ardent), celebrates Tunisia's rich oral culture and its unique blend of wry, often fatalistic humor. La marche de l'incertitude, published in 2010, won Tunisia's prestigious Prix Comar d'Or, while La sérénade d'Ibrahim Santos, published in 2011, further established his reputation as a talented writer. L'Amas ardent, published in 2017, earned both the Prix Comar d'Or and the Prix des Cinq Continents, a literary prize recognizing exceptional Francophone literature. These accolades are a testament to Manai's skill as a writer and his ability to connect with readers across cultures and languages.