Renée Hayek is a Lebanese

Lebanese people

The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....

 writer and novelist. She was born in Sarba and studied philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Lebanese University

Lebanese University

The Lebanese University is the only public institution for higher learning in Lebanon. Founded in 1951, it has 17 faculties as of 2006 and serves various cultural, religious, and social groups of students and teachers....

 in Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

. She has published a number of books, including short story collections and novels.

One of her short stories The Phone Call has been translated and anthologised in a collection of stories by Lebanese women writers. Two of her recent novels, Prayer for the Family and A Short Life, were longlisted for the Arabic Booker Prize, in 2009 and 2011 respectively.

Selected works

• Portraits of Forgetfulness (short stories)
• The Well and the Sky
• The Land of the Snows
• Days of Paris
• Prayer for the Family
• A Short Life

Reference