Yousef al-Mohaimeed was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and has published several novels and short-story collections in Arabic. His novels include Al-Qaroura ('The Bottle'), The Dolphin's Excursion, and Wolves of the Crescent Moon. The latter was published in English by Penguin USA and in French by Actes Sud (both 2007). All of his novels are widely published in the Arab world but banned in his own country.