Hoopoe Fiction

18/09/2025

What to Read this Fall?

Harper’s Bazaar Al Arabiya highlighted "Honey Hunger" by Zahran Alqasmi (Hoopoe, 2024), in “9 Must-Read Books by Arab Authors to Hibernate with this Autumn,” remarking:
“Honey Hunger weaves folklore, ecology, and human desire into a novel that is unlike anything else. . . . the book probes the fragile relationship between people and nature, revealing both sweetness and sting."

Read the full feature: https://tinyurl.com/HarperBazaarelarabiya

Learn more about “Honey Hunger”, a novel by Zahran Alqasmi, translated by Marilyn Booth (Hoopoe, 2025): https://tinyurl.com/HoneyHunger

11/09/2025

"Empty Cages" was recently featured in The Markaz Review in a powerful article by وسع خيالك - Ahmed Naji.

He describes Fatma Qandil’s novel as “a brutally honest exploration of taboo subjects… profoundly political, yet understated… its language’s sheer beauty and power… masterfully translated by Adam Talib… I found myself gasping at times when Qandil delivered one of her many incisive lines.”

Read the full review:
https://themarkaz.org/brutally-honest-exploration-of-taboo-subjects-in-empty-cages/

Learn more about "Empty Cages" by Fatma Qandil, translated by Adam Talib: https://tinyurl.com/Blog-Empty-Cages

A novel that explores taboo subjects with exceptional craftsmanship, while reconstructing the “self” from pain and fragmented identities.

07/09/2025

“Empty Cages” Shines in The National’s Must-Read List

Fatma Qandil’s "Empty Cages," translated by Adam Talib and winner of the 2022 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, has been featured in The National’s article “Eleven new English-language books by Arab authors to read in 2025.”

“Empty Cages is a gripping read as Qandil’s prose, translated by Adam Talib, capers off the page in a raw meditation on grief and survival.”—The National

Explore the full feature here: https://tinyurl.com/Thenational-EmptyCages
Learn more about the novel: https://tinyurl.com/Blog-Empty-Cages

Novels, memoirs and poetry collections span Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Lebanon and beyond

01/09/2025

Join us this week in celebrating the birthday of acclaimed Palestinian author Sahar Khalifeh, born in Nablus on 1 September.

Widely recognized as a pioneering feminist voice, Khalifeh has written eleven novels, translated into English, French, German, Spanish, and many other languages. She received the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for "The Image, the Icon, and the Covenant."

Her novel, "My First and Only Love," translated by Aida Bamia (Hoopoe, 2021), offers a profound exploration of Palestinian struggles and the enduring resilience of its people.
Learn more about the novel here: http://tinyurl.com/FirstOnlyLove

Enjoy this interview with Sahar Khalifeh and Turgul Mende on Arabic Literature: In Translation: https://arablit.org/2021/08/12/sahar-khalifeh-i-am-a-committed-writer-or-maybe-i-am-an-obsessed-writer/

30/08/2025

“This captivating novel is a search for hope, longing, love. . . . [T]hose readers who enjoy lyrical books, as the author is also a poet, will be transported to a rich and vibrant world among the bees.”—Tulsa Book Review

Learn more about “Honey Hunger”, a novel by Zahran Alqasmi, translated by Marilyn Booth (Hoopoe, 2025): https://tinyurl.com/HoneyHunger

Available worldwide and with a special discount in Egypt at AUC Bookstores (Tahrir branch) and online during the End of Summer Book Sale, until 6 September.

16/08/2025

"Gold Dust" by Ibrahim al-Koni, translated by Elliott Colla (Hoopoe, 2020), was recently spotted at Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford.

“Imagine Cormac McCarthy's savage lyricism in a Paul Bowles desert landscape, and you begin to enter the bleakly beautiful world of this mesmerizing, fable-like novel.”—The Independent

"Gold Dust" is a haunting tale of survival and companionship in the Libyan Sahara, where man and beast share an unbreakable bond in the face of exile, war, and relentless pursuit.

Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/Gold-Dust-Alkoni

13/08/2025

13/08/2025

09/08/2025

Remembering Latifa al-Zayyat

Latifa al-Zayyat (1923-1996) was an Egyptian author, activist, and university teacher who had an enormous influence on the novel form in Arabic during the 1950s. She received Egypt ’s highest State Prize for literature. She fought against both the British occupation and for women’s rights.
She is the author of "The Open Door", translated by the award-winning Marilyn Booth (Hoopoe, 2017).
Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, the novel is a modern classic that traces Layla's journey as she strives to liberate her rebellious spirit from the constraining societal norms that dictate a young woman's life, just as Egypt struggles to shake off the yoke of imperialist rule such as the British occupation.
Learn more here:🔗https://tinyurl.com/Theopendoornovel

08/08/2025

04/08/2025

"Honey Hunger": A Novel Rooted in Nature and Poetic Grace

“Honey Hunger” by Zahran Alqasmi, translated by Marilyn Booth (Hoopoe, 2025), is a must-read for fans of nature writing and literature with a poetic edge.

The novel tells the story of Azzan, a beekeeper in rural Oman, whose life and struggles unfold against the stunning backdrop of Oman’s mountains. Through his bond with beekeeping—and a chance encounter with a shepherd named Thamna—the novel reveals the fragile ecologies inhabited by both bees and humans alike, in a story of resilience and hope.
Available in Egypt from and worldwide from major bookstores and online book retailers.
EG: https://tinyurl.com/HoneyHunger-EG
UK: https://tinyurl.com/HoneyHunger-UK
US and the rest of the world: https://tinyurl.com/HoneyHunger-US