The Arabic-speaking world is mourning the death of an influential writer. Sudanese-born Tayeb Salih died in London on Wednesday, February 18th. A few years ago, one of Tayeb Salih's books was hailed by the Syria-based Arab Literary Academy as "the most important Arabic novel of the 20th century".

The late author was not well-known in the U.S. But he did have some fans here. One of them is Peter Nazareth --an English professor at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Lisa Mullins speaks with him.