Amets Arzallus was born in Hendaia (Basque Country) in 1983. He is a journalist, and an improviser bertsolari since childhood. He has made a professional living from oral improvisation since he was 16 years old, and in 2013 he won the national bertsolaris championship, in a final in front of 15,000 spectators. Since 2018, he has been a volunteer at the Irungo Harrera Sarea association (Irún Reception Network) where they welcome and guide migrants. It was there where his path crossed that of Ibrahima Balde, a Guinean migrant, and together they wrote the book that tells Ibrahima’s story. A book written by four hands, originally in Basque (
Miñan), which has been translated into more than ten languages and has reached the hands of Pope Francis. Amets had never written a book before, and neither had Ibrahima.