Karim Alrawi was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He went to school in England and after graduation he worked as a writer at several theaters including the Royal Court Theatre and the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Returning to Egypt he taught in the theater department of the American University in Cairo. He wrote four stage plays in Arabic that were produced on the Egyptian stage. His first novel Book of Sands won the inaugural HarperCollins/UBC Prize for Best New Fiction. He is the author of several picture books for children, including The Mouse Who Saved Egypt and The Girl Who Lost Her Smile.