Samir El-Youssef

Samir El-Youssef (; born 1965) El-Youssef's father is a Sunni and his mother is from the only Shia Palestinian family. In 2000, he was granted British citizenship.

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, The Guardian's Comment is Free and in the New Statesman.

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.