Samir El-Youssef (Arabic: سمير اليوسف) (born 1965)^[1] is a Palestinian-British writer and critic, who was born in Rashidieh, a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, where he lived until he was ten, before moving to Sidon, Lebanon.^[2] El-Youssef's father is a Sunni and his mother is from the only Shia Palestinian family.^[2] He emigrated to Cyprus in 1989, and since 1990 has been living in London, where he studied philosophy and gained a Master of Arts degree from the University of London. In 2000, he was granted British citizenship.^[2]

He writes in both Arabic and English, and some of his work has been translated into German, Italian, Greek and Norwegian. In 2004, he co-authored a book with Israeli author Etgar Keret, called Gaza Blues: Different Stories.^[3]

His 2007 book The Illusion of Return is his first novel written in English. He is also an essayist with a wide range of interests including literature, politics, philosophy and cultural studies. His essays and reviews have appeared in Arabic periodicals and newspapers such as the London-based Al-Hayat, as well as on openDemocracy.net,^[1] The Guardian's Comment is Free^[4] and in the New Statesman.^[5]

In 2005, the Swedish branch of the organisation International PEN granted El-Youssef the Tucholsky award, named after Kurt Tucholsky and given each year to a writer or publisher who is either being persecuted or threatened, or living in exile.^[2][6][7][8]

• Samir El-Youssef and Etgar Keret: (2004) Gaza Blues: Different Stories, London: David Paul, ISBN 978-0-9540542-4-3
• Samir El-Youssef (2007) The Illusion of Return, London: Halban, ISBN 978-1-905559-07-7
• Samir El-Youssef (2008) A Treaty of Love, London: Halban, ISBN 978-1-905559-09-1