{"title":"Afghan Authors","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"ugliness-moshtari-hilal","title":"Ugliness","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHow do power and beauty join forces to determine who is considered ugly? What role does that ugliness play in fomenting hatred? Moshtari Hilal, an Afghan-born author and artist who lives in Germany, has written a touching, intimate, and highly political book. Dense body hair, crooked teeth, and big Hilal uses a broad cultural lens to question norms of appearance—ostensibly her own, but in fact, everyone’s. She writes about beauty salons in Kabul as a backdrop to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, Darwin’s theory of evolution, Kim Kardashian, and a utopian place in the shadow of her nose. With a profound mix of essay, poetry, her own drawings, and cultural and social history of the body, Hilal explores notions of repulsion and attraction, taking the reader into the most personal of realms to put self-image to thetest. Why are we afraid of ugliness?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eMoshtari Hilal\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eis a visual artist, writer, and curator based in Hamburg and Berlin. Born in Afghanistan, she pursued Islamic studies and political science in Hamburg, Berlin, and London. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eElisabeth Lauffer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is the recipient of the 2014 Gutekunst Translation Prize. After graduating from Wesleyan University, she lived in Berlin and then obtained a master’s in education from Harvard.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Moshtari Hilal","offers":[{"title":"New - Paperback","offer_id":50233046630717,"sku":"","price":29.5,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/0831\/3917\/files\/916hTTnictL._SL1500.jpg?v=1745423992"},{"product_id":"no-god-but-us-a-novel-bobuq-sayed","title":"No God But Us: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn this seductive, provocative debut, two gay Afghan men—cast out of their respective countries of birth by circumstances beyond their control—collide in Istanbul, a city that will test their willingness to sacrifice everything for the ones they love.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen Delbar—a hapless twenty-something with dreams of becoming a drag queen—is spectacularly outed, he flees the insular immigrant-dense suburbs of Washington, DC to seek refuge with his sympathetic aunt in Istanbul. There, he discovers a vibrant community of dissidents, sex workers, activists, poets, and heretics. Among them are Leif and his boyfriend, Mansur, with whom Delbar quickly develops a blazing fascination.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut Mansur also nurses a wounded heart, having left his own family, and his first love, behind in Iran. This time, Mansur’s learned not to dream bigger than his own survival. He’ll keep a low profile, work hard to send money back, and remain faithful to Leif—at least until his refugee status is granted.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen riot police descend on attendees of the annual Istanbul Pride march, Mansur and Delbar are thrust into dangerous proximity. With the country surging into authoritarianism, each person must ask \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ewhat constitutes a life well-lived, and how high is the price of freedom?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTold through the alternating viewpoints of Delbar and Mansur, Bobuq Sayed’s debut is a story of borders and boundaries transgressed, and a deeply engrossing exploration of what it means to make a home at the margins of society. At once an immigrant family saga, a thwarted love story, and a searing portrait of politics made intimately personal, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNo God but Us\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is an ambitious introduction to a bold new voice.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBobuq Sayed\u003c\/strong\u003e is an Afghan cultural worker. They are the author of A Brief History of Australian Terror, a chapbook forthcoming from Common Room Editions in 2024, and the co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices From Trans and Gender Diverse Australia(Allen and Unwin).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bobuq Sayed","offers":[{"title":"New - Hardcover","offer_id":51172389585213,"sku":null,"price":39.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/0831\/3917\/files\/91HrMhpGwdL._SL1500.jpg?v=1765917749"},{"product_id":"the-blood-of-things-a-love-letter-to-afghanistan-jamaluddin-aram","title":"The Blood of Things: A Love Letter to Afghanistan","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReserve your copy now! Expected release is September 15, 2026. Will ship on or after September 15, 2026. Limited copies available.\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eAn exquisite debut collection on writing, exile, and rebuilding community after losing your homeland.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn elegantly written and meticulously observed essays including “Afghanistan, the Beautiful Land of Endless Suffering,” “The Blood of Things,” and “Small Memories,” Jamaluddin Aram examines the complexities of his place of birth and the demands of forging a career in writing. He explores themes such as displacement, ethnic discrimination, and exile, balanced by the lightness of memory, friendship, and hope. In prose that is at once highly political and deeply personal, Aram writes about “the terrible responsibility of war,” the fall of Kabul, and an account that connects his great-grandfather to the medieval Order of Assassins, and subverts entrenched portrayals of his people in popular culture, among other subjects, in a collection that is both sweeping and intimate, immersive and provocative, and which fully reveals his talent as an exciting new voice in nonfiction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJAMALUDDIN ARAM\u003c\/strong\u003e is an Afghan-Canadian writer. His short story “This Hard Easy Life” was a finalist for the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award in 2020. His debut novel, \u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eNothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday,\u003c\/span\u003e won the 2024 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in Literary Fiction. He is the associate producer of the Oscar nominated film \u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eBuzkashi Boys\u003c\/span\u003e. He lives in Toronto.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jamaluddin Aram","offers":[{"title":"Expected Release - September 15\/26","offer_id":51612328100157,"sku":null,"price":32.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/0831\/3917\/files\/91xZBFV8gmL._SL1500.jpg?v=1776549063"}],"url":"https:\/\/thebookarchive.ca\/collections\/afghan-authors.oembed","provider":"The Book Archive","version":"1.0","type":"link"}