Tayeb Salih was a cultural journalist and author. He is best known for his novel "Season of Migration to the North," which was considered to be one of the most important novels in Arabic literature. Salih was a reporter for the BBC Arabic program and for Arabic journals. He was also a staff member of UNESCO. Salih's novels and short stories have been translated into English and more than a dozen other languages. His first novel, "A Date Palm by the Stream," was published in 1953. Two awards have been established in his name, the al-Tayeb Salih Prize for Literary Creativity for Sudanese novels, and the al-Tayeb Salih Award for Creative Writing for novels, short stories, and critical studies. Salih died on 18 February 2009.