The Book of Sana'a

About

A man accidentally swept along by a street protest finds himself tasered, arrested and subjected to days of torture by the police, simply because he tried to cross the road...

Following the disappearance of her father, a teenage girl is forced to support her impoverished family by disguising herself as a boy, losing both her childhood and her identity in the process...

On the day after a perfect wedding, a groom can’t work out why all his relatives are gathered outside his bedroom dressed in mourning clothes...

The stories in this anthology demonstrate the myriad ways that war and oppressive regimes have touched the lives of ordinary Yemenis. Whether it’s the decade-long war between the Ansarallah (a.k.a. ‘Houthi’) movement and the Yemeni government (played out as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia), or the oppression of President Saleh’s previous regime, or earlier civil conflicts... No one is safe. Each character learns to navigate through trauma, finding redemption in their own ingenuity as well as in a deep-rooted appreciation for what remains a beautiful, inspiring city.

Translated by: Maisa Almanasreh, Raph Cormack, Basma Ghalayini, Mohammed Ghalayini, Christiaan James, Laura Kasinof, Talei Lakeland, Andrew Leber, Majd Abu Shawish, and Katherine Van de Vate.

Press

'Comma Press has published more than 20 books in its series Reading the City, but this is perhaps the most powerful' - Frank Wynne

'Despite its setting, or perhaps because of it, this is a vital, vibrant anthology filled with hopes and dreams, with flickers of magic and scathing satire. At the heart of these eloquently translated tales is the shared humanity of squabbling siblings, overprotective mothers, all that it means to be family.'  - The Irish Times

‘In The Book of Sana’a, the stories act like vignettes or layers peeling off the capital city’s many streets, home interiors, and lives, taking us on sinuous roads, not unlike the Old City’s ancient alleyways, which prominently feature across the book’s diverse chapters… All of these coalesce into a polyphonic book where seasoned and emerging writers meet in the literary realm of Sana’a.’ - The New Arab

‘This is a brave and fascinating anthology that deserves to be widely read.’ - The Asian Review

‘In a city increasingly cut off from the world, both because of a severely restricted local press and reductive portrayal from international media, The Book of Sana’a amplifies Yemeni literary voices. Like Bab al-Yemen, the ancient gate gracing the book’s cover, Sana’a “watches over the tales of those who enter and leave,” guarding stories that demand to be heard.’ - ArabLit

Read ‘Borrowing a Head’ by Abdoo Taj in Wasafiri.