First published 2024
Sisters in Khartoum face a deepening rift that only shared struggle during the Arab Spring might heal. A young person in Lebanon navigates queer identity in a conservative society. A Palestinian family watches helplessly as mysterious forces tear them apart. These voices belong to twenty-five writers with roots across the Middle East and North Africa, from Egypt and Iran to Sudan and Kuwait. Their characters grapple with the weight of colonization and war while building new lives in diaspora communities often misunderstood by their adopted countries. The stories move between homelands scarred by occupation and foreign cities where immigrants attempt to blend into unfamiliar cultures. Each writer asserts their narrative power against decades of misrepresentation, creating a collective vision that spans Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Urdu-speaking worlds. The tension between preserving cultural identity and adapting to new realities drives these tales of family bonds, political awakening, and personal transformation.
Genres: fiction, african-literature, contemporary, cultural, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, personal-transformation, political-fiction
Setting: Egypt, Iran, Khartoum, Lebanon, Kuwait, Sudan
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · City Lights Publishers
Content warnings: colonialism, war