Tarek Eltayeb was born to Sudanese parents in Cairo in 1959. He has been writing since 1985 and has so far published two novels, two collections of short stories, five collections of poems, and one play in Arabic. His books have been published in German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Macedonian, Romanian and Serbian translations. His poems have appeared in different languages in various literary anthologies, magazines, and journals worldwide.