Abdelkader Benali is a Dutch-Moroccan writer, who studied Dutch literature and language in Leiden. Benali debuted in 1997 with the novel Wedding by the Sea which was nominated for the Libris Literature Prize, which he received six years later for The Long-Awaited. His other novels include The Marathon Runner, about his passion for running.
Benali also writes poetry, plays and reviews for newspapers and magazines including De Volkskrant, Vrij Nederland, De Groene Amsterdammer, Esquire and Algemeen Dagblad.