5. Hashem Gharhyba

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The author of The Cat Who Taught Me How to Fly, a recently published autobiographical novel about a former Communist's experience in a Jordanian prison during the 1980s, Hashem Gharhyba (left) attended the University of Baghdad, in Iraq, and studied to be a medical-lab technician. "A year ago, they would not have published [my book]," he told Morison and explained that the Arab Spring protests have altered the political landscape. "Now they published it without any problems."