Francis Matthew is the Editor-at-Large of Gulf News, focusing on social and political writing and interviews. He has worked in the Middle East as a journalist and editor for almost 30 years, with occasional spells in Europe.

He worked in Lebanon and Egypt in the 1980s, and came to the UAE for the first time in 1983 till 1987. He came back to Dubai in 1995 to be the Editor of Gulf News, helping to build its position as the Gulf’s largest English language newspaper, and has lived in the city ever since.

Francis has a BA in Arabic and Islamic History from Exeter University, UK.