Set in late nineteenth-century Benghazi, Najwa Bin Shatwan's powerful novel tells the story of Atiqa, the daughter of a slave woman and her white master. Shortlisted for the 2017 International Prize for Arabic Ficiton, Bin Shatwan's unforgettable novel offers a window into a dark chapter of Libyan history.
These stories by new and emerging writers from the continent of Africa all tackle the theme of 'Disruption' in ingenious ways and represent a range of genres, from Innocent Ilo's imaginative exploration of a post-apocalyptic African village, to Victor Forna's stylistic take on the destruction of humanity. Masiyaleti Mbewe's brutal tale of Apartheid and climate change through the eyes of a time-traveling cyborg sits alongside Genna Gardini's diverting allegory of companionship and an escaped exotic pet. The 2021 anthology features stories from across the continent, from Libya to Sierra Leone to Zambia to South Africa, and also includes a translated story, 'Armando's Virtuous Crime' by Najwa Bin Shatwan, translated from Arabic into English by Sawad Hussain.