Elliott Colla Books

A cultural history of European and Egyptian interest in ancient Egypt and its material culture, from the early nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth.

Rejected by his tribe and hunted by the kin of the man he killed, Ukhayyad and his thoroughbred camel flee across the desolate Tuareg deserts of the Sahara. Between bloody wars against the Italians in the north and famine raging in the south, Ukhayyad rides for the remote rock caves of Jebel Hasawna. There, he says farewell to the mount who has been his companion through thirst, disease, lust, and loneliness. Alone in the desert, haunted by the prophetic cave paintings of ancient hunting scenes and the cries of jinn in the night, Ukhayyad awaits the arrival of his pursuers and their insatiable hunger for blood and gold. Gold Dust is a classic story of the brotherhood between man and beast, the thread of companionship that is all the difference between life and death in the desert. It is a story of the fight to endure in a world of limitless and waterless wastes, and a parable of the struggle to survive in the most dangerous landscape of all: human society.

An ordinary room in Cairo. A man, now alone. An assemblage of household objects that aren't so inanimate.The objects we own hold the secrets to our lives, absorbing all the goings-on of the humans they share space with. Elliott Colla's poetic prose artfully weaves together the experiences of the humans in the room with those of the objects, inviting the reader to take a second to reflect on the true nature of existence. Told from a third person perspective, We Are All Things uses Ganzeer's beautiful imagery to depict an intimate turning point in a couple's relationship. Equal parts Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Yahy? al-T?hir 'Abdallah, We Are All Things is the first collaboration between Ganzeer and Elliott Colla.

Soon after Iraq has fallen to the US army, Baghdad police inspector Khafaji is pressed into service to help rebuild a decimated Iraqi police service. He investigates the disappearance of young women translators working for the US forces. The trail leads Khafaji through battles, bars and brothels, then back to the Green Zone.