Jalal Barjas Al-Ghulailat (born June 3, 1970) is a Jordanian poet and novelist, born in the village of Hanina in the Madaba Governorate.
Writer Jalal Barjas, January 12, 2013.
He attended schools in the Madaba Governorate before studying military aviation engineering and serving in the Royal Jordanian Air Force until 2007. He subsequently transitioned to a career in Jordanian journalism, working as an editor for *Al-Anbat* newspaper and later as a correspondent for *Ad-Dustour* newspaper. He has also served on the editorial boards of several cultural magazines. He worked for various civil aviation companies before being appointed to the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB).

He began publishing his literary work in the late 1990s in Jordanian and Arab periodicals and cultural supplements. In addition to his membership in the administrative board of the Jordanian Writers Association and the general assemblies of the Arab Writers Union, the Internet Writers Union, and the World Poets Movement, he serves as a cultural affairs expert for the Higher Council for Science and Technology and a cultural advisor to the Ithra Academy. He also holds the positions of Head of the Jordanian Narratology Laboratory and Editor-in-Chief of *Sawt Al-Jeel* (Voice of the Generation) magazine. Previously, he served as Secretary of the Jordanian Writers Association (Madaba branch) and chaired several literary forums—such as the Madaba Cultural Forum and the Madaba Children’s Cultural Forum—which he co-founded with other writers and cultural activists, presiding over their boards for two consecutive terms.

He worked as managing editor for cultural magazines such as *Madaba* and *Al-Ruwad*. He also chaired the editorial board of the Jordanian magazine *Amkina* (Places)—which focused on the literature of place—prior to the cessation of its publication. He produces and hosts a radio program titled *Bayt al-Riwaya* (House of the Novel) on the Jordan Academy of Arabic’s radio station. His body of work spans poetry, short stories, critical and literary essays, “place-based” narratives, and novels. He has a particular interest in the concept of “place,” exploring it through a “third eye” that transcends mere history and geography to prioritize aesthetic value and a poetic vision of what lies beyond the physical location. Notably, his book *Razadh ‘ala Zujaj al-Dhakira: Hikayat Makaniyya* (Mist on the Glass of Memory: Tales of Place) was serialized in *Ad-Dustour* newspaper’s cultural supplement prior to its formal publication. In collaboration with Riwaq Al-Balqa, he also published *Shababik Madaba Tahrus al-Quds* (Madaba’s Windows Guard Jerusalem)—a work translated into seven languages—which weaves together the text with artworks by Jordanian and Arab artists.

His novels *Nashij al-Duduk* (The Sobbing of the Duduk) and *Dafatir al-Warraq* (The Bookseller’s Notebooks) were adopted into the high school curriculum in France. Furthermore, *The National* newspaper named *Dafatir al-Warraq* one of the 50 most important Arab novels of the 21st century, and the novel is also recognized as one of the five most significant works in reinforcing Jordanian national identity.