Born to a Syrian father and a Lebanese mother, Nahhas obtained a Master degree in Marine Sciences from The American University of Beirut, and completed his PhD at Hull University, England. He spent twenty-five years working in research, teaching, and consulting in Lebanon, England, Syria, and Australia. He was adviser to a number of ministries and organisations, including The United Nations' Environment Programme for the Protection of the Mediterranean. Before he retired, he had been working for the Australian Department of Human Services.
His interest in literature started when he was very young, contributing to the school magazine. He was fourteen when his first essay was published in a leading Arab periodical.
Since his migration to Australia in 1988, Nahhas’ belief in the importance of access and cultural exchange made him focus on literary translations for a while, at the expense of his preferred activity of writing. In 2000, he founded Kalimat, an English-Arabic literary quarterly, which, until it ceased publication in 2006, was a medium for creative writing and translations.
As at 2015, he is focusing on literary writings and runs his own business in editing, manuscript assessment, translations, and publishing in both English and Arabic.
(Biography supplied by author.)
