Born in Beirut in 1957, Wazen is a renowned poet and the cultural editor of the international daily Al-Hayat newspaper. He published his first collection of poetry Al-Ghaba Al-Muqfala (The Locked Forest) in 1982 and, since then, six others. Copies of his book, Hadiqat al-Hawas (The Garden of Sensation), published in 1993, were seized by the Lebanese Ministry of Interior on accusations of licentiousness. In 1997, his translation of Jacques Prevert: 50 Poems was published by Dar An-Nahar. He later translated, edited and introduced Nadia Twueini’s 20 Poems for a Love: Diwan al-Hallaj, receiving high acclaim. His memoir, Qalb Maftouh (An Open Heart), published in 2010 was written after he underwent a major heart operation and is excerpted in Banipal 40 – Libyan Fiction.