Maán Jalal is a writer of mixed Arab heritage who grew up between Auckland, New Zealand and Dubai, UAE where he is now based. For the last decade he has worked as a journalist covering arts, culture and entertainment regionally and internationally for the Middle East. His work has been featured in many national and international publications. His writing has also been published in Anthologies such as The Fish Anthology where he was selected as a winner of their Short Memoir Prize in 2020. Maán holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland where he spent a year interviewing survivors of the 1991 Iraq Gulf War. He also co-founded and launched The Arab Edition, a volunteer online portal which covers stories from Arabs across the world. A manic bibliophile, obsessive reader and lover of all forms of media from art history, classic films, romantic comedies, and a fascination (that some may deem unhealthy) with reality television. Apart from writing fiction and non-fiction about love, war, humor, identity and the immigrant experience, Maán delves into the many facets of contemporary pop culture as well as the books he’s fanatical about and currently reading on his Instagram account and website http://maanjalal.com