Darf Publishers imprint: 15 books

The novel, a depiction of social and political events in the capital during the run-up to a national election, contains a grim cast of characters: corrupt politicians, impotent intellectuals, unprincipled journalists, manipulative Leftists, and impetuous Muslims to name but a few. Although the novel...

Part anthology and part travelogue, Translating Libya presents the country through the eyes of sixteen Libyan short story writers and one American diplomat. Translating Libya, published in 2008, was one of the first books to introduce Libyan literature to an English-speaking audience. The...

African Titanics is the untold tale of the African boat people and their desperate exodus to the merciless shores of the Mediterranean. The novel is one of fleeting yet profound friendships, perseverance born of despair and the power of stories to overcome the difficulties of the present. Alternating...

Denied her voice, even the freedom to ask questions, al-Muqri's ill-fated heroine remains nameless. As a female, she is simply a 'Hurma' - literally 'sanctity', an entity to be protected from violation. Growing up in the stifling and oppressive atmosphere of her childhood home in the Yemeni capital...

Ghada Samman’s most recent novel, Farewell, Damascus is set in early 1960’s Damascus – a city that now languishes in the grip of corruption and political oppression following the Baathist takeover in Syria. The book opens as Zain Khayyal, a university student and aspiring young writer,...

This exciting adventure story follows a family of slaves in the USA in 1860 as they escape from a cotton plantation via the legendary Underground Railroad. An enthralling story of courage and resilience, centring on 10-year-old Tommy, it will fascinate children who might not know much about this secret...

As a young man growing up under communism in South Yemen, Imran finds himself drawn to Hawiya, the daughter of a high-ranking official in the ruling Marxist party. He departs Aden, the seaport city of his childhood, to study literature in Paris, hoping to 'see the sunset of capitalism with his own...

With its satirical and semi-journalistic style, Chewing Gum is an existential quest to understand how a society exists beneath a repressive dictatorship. The rhythmic act of chewing relentlessly continues as individuals, time and land turn to waste. In this debut novel, no one escapes the critical...

Zainab, a name which aptly reflects the beauty of this tale's protagonist is also the title of the first modern Egyptian novel written in native vernacular. Crafted in 1910 by a privileged member of society and a student at the time living in Paris, Mohammed Hussein Haikal later rose through the ranks...

Othman al-Sheikh is running away from the shadows of his past life in a small dusty village in the Libyan Desert. Tripoli, meanwhile, is a city in the process of transformation, moulded to the will of its Italian colonisers. Its decadent entertainments and extravagant riches conceal an underbelly...

Anne-Marie Drosso's collection of fourteen short stories guides us through the turbulence of Egyptian modern history - from Gamal Abdel Nasser's early days of glory, to Abdel Fatah el-Sisi's recent assumption of power. Each story weaves a tapestry of hope, crisis and despair, illustrated through an...

The Clash of Images is a sweet, Borgesian mix of bildungsroman memoir, family history, short-story collection, fable, and literary criticism. Written in a graceful and charming style, Kilito’s story takes place in an unnamed coastal city of memories where a child experiences first-hand the...

Louis Nawa left the hospital, still wearing his inpatient's gown, which covered only the top half of his body, leaving the bottom half naked but for a thick coat of body hair, a few mosquito bites and a wealth of lesions left by Ebola, which were now beginning to heal over. The streets were...

The Travels of Ibn Fudayl is a satirical tale written in the style of an academic who has translated a medieval manuscript. It comes complete with a foreword, introduction, bibliography and copious footnotes that poke fun at the pretentious world of academia, whilst chronicling Ibn Fudayl's experiences...