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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Striking a deal that initiates a woman’s fight for freedom. -
A thrilling and subtle historical novel about Italy’s invasion of Libya -
A writer caught between two lives, two languages, two women -
A polyphonic Palestinian novel that brings to life dreams of exile and return. -
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 tightly paced queer romance that explores how the relationships we build make us who we are -
A woman confronts her family’s displacement and dysfunction -
The tragic life of a female writer in 1960’s Dubai -
A vibrant and clever polyphonic tale of twentieth-century Muscat -
A horror mystery that is also an allegory about the writing process -
A page-turner about betrayal, guilt, and generational trauma -
A realistic yet fantastical journey into post-revolutionary Cairo -
A Libyan love story that questions ideas of gender and masculinity -
A marginalised Algerian neighbourhood tells one last tale -
A narrative journey across times and places -
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 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 -
Twelve stories about women’s lives in modern Morocco