Azhari Aiyub was born in Banda Aceh in 1981 and began writing in primary school. He won first prize in the education ministry's 2003 short-story contest, and his collection Perempuan Pala (2004), about the Aceh conflict, earned him the Free Word Award from Poets of All Nations in 2005. With friends from Syiah Kuala University he co-founded Tikar Pandan and the Dokarim Writing School. His novel Kura-Kura Berjanggut (2018) won the prose category of the 18th Khatulistiwa Literary Award; his work has been translated into English, German and French, including The Garden of Delights & Other Tales. In 2025 he took part in the University of Iowa's International Writing Program.