The following selection of books have been recommended and reviewed by the LEILA project’s jury members who are Arabic literature specialists, many of them translators and writers themselves. These recommendations have been chosen with European publishers in mind, who are interested in finding out more about books from the Arab world. When available, contact information for foreign rights (author, agent, or publisher) is provided.
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A thrilling and subtle historical novel about Italy’s invasion of Libya -
A tightly paced queer romance that explores how the relationships we build make us who we are -
A polyphonic Palestinian novel that brings to life dreams of exile and return. -
A writer caught between two lives, two languages, two women -
Multiple themes, such as women’s place in society, and the beauty and depth of Arabic calligraphy are threaded through this novel which takes place during and after Lebanon’s civil war -
A journey into Bedouin life and history in northern Syria -
A marginalised Algerian neighbourhood tells one last tale -
A realistic yet fantastical journey into post-revolutionary Cairo -
The tragic life of a female writer in 1960’s Dubai -
Rimbaud seen through the eyes of his Abyssinian lover -
Set in a remote mountain village, under the guise of a murder mystery, myths, illusions, and dreams play out among the villagers -
A page-turner about betrayal, guilt, and generational trauma -
A horror mystery that is also an allegory about the writing process -
A vibrant and clever polyphonic tale of twentieth-century Muscat -
A woman confronts her family’s displacement and dysfunction -
A Libyan love story that questions ideas of gender and masculinity -
A Yazidi woman in northern Iraq fights against ISIS -
Twelve stories about women’s lives in modern Morocco -
A timely collection of stories about what happens when life suddenly goes wrong, from one of the finest authors of short fiction writing in Arabic today -
The true story of an illegal immigrant’s harrowing journey