Rafik Schami was born in the Syrian capital Damascus in 1946, where hefounded a newspaper Al-Muntalek displayed on the walls of the old city.In 1971 he emigrated to Germany, where he worked in factories and restaurantswhile studying chemistry and writing for newspapers and journals.Eight years later he graduated with a Ph.D. and then in 1980 founded theliterary group 'Sudwind' (South wind) and a multi-cultural organizationcalled 'PoLiKunst-Verein'. He received several literary prizes including theHermann-Hesse-Preis and the Prix de Lecture. His latest novel Die dunkleSeite der Liebe (The Dark Side of Love) was published by Hanser in 2004.Rafik Schami has written this book with the culinary help of his sister MarieFadel.
