Books by Tayeb Salih
“Tayeb Salih is basically a founder of what we call African immigrant writing, stories that are very popular at this particular time.In my opinion, Season of Migration to the North is amazing. As far back as the 1960s, Tayeb Salih was already tackling, in a vivid manner, the issues migrants to the West are confronted by: it’s hard to integrate because of cultural and religious differences, xenophobia, and the difficulties of getting employment or housing for not-properly-documented immigrants…I feel that African contemporary writing is in an age of restless migration to the North….Almost all the themes that he put there are what most writers at this particular moment are talking about. You can read Abdulrazak Gurnah, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature: Most of his themes are based on that. It’s as if he is haunted by the ghost of Salih.” Read more...
The Best African Contemporary Writing
Mphuthumi Ntabeni, Novelist
Interviews where books by Tayeb Salih were recommended
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1
Season of Migration to the North
by Tayeb Salih -
2
The Land Is Ours: Black Lawyers and the Birth of Constitutionalism in South Africa
by Tembeka Ngcukaitobi -
3
Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa
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4
A Library to Flee
by Etienne van Heerden -
5
A General Theory of Oblivion
by Daniel Hahn (translator) & José Eduardo Agualusa
The Best African Contemporary Writing, recommended by Mphuthumi Ntabeni
The Best African Contemporary Writing, recommended by Mphuthumi Ntabeni
The emphasis in new African writing is away from politics towards how the individual responds to events, says South African novelist Mphuthumi Ntabeni, author of The Broken River Tent and The Wanderers. He picks out five outstanding books of African writing, including novels that paved the way for new genres, a book of short stories from across Africa, and a work of nonfiction that he recommends to “anybody who wants to know what is happening in South Africa.”
Classics of Arabic Literature, recommended by Robert Irwin
From the Life and Works of Jahiz, who lived in the 9th century, to a modern Sudanese masterpiece, the distinguished Arabist, novelist and historian Robert Irwin selects five classics of Arabic literature.
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1
The Blind Owl
by Sadegh Hedayat and Naveed Noori (translator) -
2
Season of Migration to the North
by Tayeb Salih -
3
Leg over Leg
by Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq and Humphrey Davies (translator) -
4
Drifting Cities: A Trilogy
by Strates Tsirkas and Kay Cicellis (translator) -
5
The Arabian Nights or Tales of 1001 Nights
Mathias Enard on The ‘Orient’ and Orientalism
Mathias Enard on The ‘Orient’ and Orientalism
Study of the ‘Orient’ and Orientalism has evolved considerably since Edward Said's seminal study of 1978. Here, the multi-award winning French novelist Mathias Enard, whose own novel, Compass, draws on this rich history, discusses five books that capture key aspects of this ever-shifting terrain
The best books on The Arab World, recommended by Tarek Osman
The Egyptian author and journalist discusses Egypt’s past and present and the main issues facing the post-revolutionary Arab world
The best books on Diaspora, recommended by Ellah Allfrey
Books are like men, you can be surprised by the ones you find cute, says the former deputy editor of Granta magazine. She recommends the best books from the Diaspora.