SWANA Authors
Listen to audiobooks by authors of South West Asian and/or North African descent.
All's Well
By: Mona Awad
Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
Length: 13 hours 8 minutes
Abridged: No
From the author of Bunny, which Margaret Atwood hails as “genius,” comes a “wild, and exhilarating” (Lauren Groff) novel about a theater professor who is convinced staging Shakespeare’s most maligned play will remedy all that ails her—but at what cost?
Miranda Fitch’s life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting... Read more
Enter Ghost
By: Isabella Hammad
Narrated by: Nadia Albina
Length: 11 hours 41 minutes
Abridged: No
After years away from her family’s homeland, and reeling from a disastrous love affair, actress Sonia Nasir returns to Haifa to visit her older sister Haneen. This is her first trip back since the second intifada and the deaths of their grandparents: while Haneen made a life here commuting to Tel Aviv to teach at the university, Sonia remained... Read more
View audiobookThe Thirty Names of Night
By: Zeyn Joukhadar
Narrated by: Samy Figaredo & Lameece Issaq
Length: 9 hours 29 minutes
Abridged: No
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction
Winner of the ALA Stonewall Book Award—Barbara Gittings Literature Award
Named Best Book of the Year by Bustle
Named Most Anticipated Book of the Year by The Millions, Electric Literature, and HuffPost
From the award-winning author of The Map of Salt and Stars, a new novel about three... Read more
You Exist Too Much
By: Zaina Arafat
Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
Length: 7 hours 53 minutes
Abridged: No
On a hot day in Bethlehem, a twelve-year-old Palestinian-American girl is yelled at by a group of men outside the Church of the Nativity. She has exposed her legs in a biblical city, an act they deem forbidden, and their judgement will echo on through her adolescence. When our narrator finally admits to her mother that she is queer, her mother’s... Read more
View audiobookOther Words for Home
By: Jasmine Warga
Narrated by: Vaneh Assadourian
Length: 3 hours 49 minutes
Abridged: No
New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor Book!
A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed.Jude never thought she’d be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria.... Read more
The Arsonists' City
By: Hala Alyan
Narrated by: Leila Buck
Length: 19 hours 34 minutes
Abridged: No
A rich family story, a personal look at the legacy of war in the Middle East, and an indelible rendering of how we hold on to the people and places we call homeThe Nasr family is spread across the globe—Beirut, Brooklyn, Austin, the California desert. A Syrian mother, a Lebanese father, and three American children: all have lived a life of... Read more
View audiobookHome Is Not a Country
By: Safia Elhillo
Narrated by: Safia Elhillo & Christopher Myers
Length: 3 hours 10 minutes
Abridged: No
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
“Nothing short of magic.” —Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X
From the acclaimed poet featured on Forbes Africa’s “30 Under 30” list, this powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have... Read more
Love Is an Ex-Country
By: Randa Jarrar
Narrated by: Randa Jarrar
Length: 5 hours 46 minutes
Abridged: No
Queer. Muslim. Arab American. A proudly Fat woman. Randa Jarrar is all of these things. In this provocative memoir of a cross-country road trip, she explores how to claim joy in an unraveling and hostile America.
Randa Jarrar is a fearless voice of dissent who has been called "politically incorrect" (Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times). As an... Read more
A Month in Siena
By: Hisham Matar
Narrated by: Hisham Matar
Length: 3 hours 23 minutes
Abridged: No
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Return comes a profoundly moving contemplation of the relationship between art and life.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND EVENING STANDARD
After finishing his powerful memoir The Return, Hisham Matar, seeking solace and pleasure, traveled to Siena, Italy. Always... Read more
A Pure Heart
By: Rajia Hassib
Narrated by: Ariana Delawari
Length: 10 hours 20 minutes
Abridged: No
"Hassib, herself an Egyptian immigrant living in West Virginia, articulates the full-bodied chorus of Egypt's voices."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Exquisite. . . . Anchoring the story is a pair of Cairo-born sisters whose fates spin in radically different directions in the wake of the Egyptian revolution. . . . A lovely novel that does a... Read more
Walking on the Ceiling
By: Aysegül Savas
Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
Length: 3 hours 47 minutes
Abridged: No
"[Savaş] writes with both sensuality and coolness, as if determined to find a rational explanation for the irrationality of existence..." -- The New York Times
"I fell in love with this book." -- Katie Kitamura, author of A Separation
A mesmerizing novel set in Paris and a changing Istanbul, about a young Turkish woman grappling with her past and... Read more
The Parisian
By: Isabella Hammad
Narrated by: Fiona Button
Length: 20 hours 17 minutes
Abridged: No
A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence. Midhat Kamal is the son of a wealthy textile... Read more
View audiobookDarius the Great Is Not Okay
By: Adib Khorram
Narrated by: Michael Levi Harris
Length: 7 hours 33 minutes
Abridged: No
Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.
Winner of the William C. Morris Debut Award
“Heartfelt, tender, and so utterly real. I’d live in this book forever if I could.”
—Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of... Read more
Whichwood
By: Tahereh Mafi
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
Length: 7 hours 5 minutes
Abridged: No
Embark on a wondrous journey through the land of Whichwood in this stunning companion to Tahereh Mafi’s acclaimed bestseller Furthermore.
A Kirkus Best Book of the Year!
★ "Deliciously descriptive prose. . . . Darkly fascinating." −Kirkus
★ "Unforgettable heroine." −Booklist
★ "Mafi's language choices create visually arresting moments." –Shelf... Read more
American War
By: Omar El Akkad
Narrated by: Dion Graham
Length: 12 hours 21 minutes
Abridged: No
“Powerful . . . As haunting a postapocalyptic universe as Cormac McCarthy [created] in The Road, and as devastating a look as the fallout that national events have on an American family as Philip Roth did in The Plot Against America. . . . Omar El Akkad’s debut novel, American War, is an unlikely mash-up of unsparing war reporting and plot... Read more
View audiobookMedusa of the Roses
By: Navid Sinaki
Narrated by: Michael Crouch
Length: 5 hours 54 minutes
Abridged: No
A bold, cinematic novel steeped in ancient Persian and Greek myths, exploring queerness, desire, and violence in modern day Tehran, Medusa of the Roses announces Navid Sinaki as a daring and unforgettable literary voice. Bursting with sex, vengeance, and betrayal, it follows Anjir, a morbid romantic and petty thief, whose boyfriend disappears... Read more
View audiobookHuda F Are You?
By: Huda Fahmy
Narrated by: Huda Fahmy & Full Cast
Length: 53 minutes
Abridged: No
From the creator of Yes, I'm Hot In This, this cheeky, hilarious, and honest graphic novel—adapted for audio—asks the question everyone has to figure out for themselves: Who are you?
Huda and her family just moved to Dearborn, Michigan, a small town with a big Muslim population. In her old town, Huda knew exactly who she was: She was the hijabi... Read more
Huda F Cares?
By: Huda Fahmy
Narrated by: Huda Fahmy & Full Cast
Length: 58 minutes
Abridged: No
A National Book Award for Young People's Literature Finalist
In this laugh-out-loud funny sequel to Huda F Are You?, the Fahmys are off to Disney World, but self-conscious Huda worries her family will stand out too much.
Huda and her sisters can’t believe it when her parents announce that they’re actually taking a vacation this summer . . . to... Read more
The War We Won Apart
By: Nahlah Ayed
Narrated by: Nahlah Ayed
Length: 11 hours 21 minutes
Abridged: No
INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Love, betrayal, and a secret war: the untold story of two elite agents, one Canadian, one British, who became one of the most decorated couples of WWII.
On opposite sides of the pond, Sonia Butt, an adventurous young British woman, and Guy d’Artois, a French-Canadian soldier and thunderstorm of a man, are preparing... Read more
Long Live Queer Nightlife
By: Amin Ghaziani
Narrated by: Amin El Gamal
Length: 9 hours 20 minutes
Abridged: No
It's closing time for an alarming number of gay bars in cities around the globe—but this audiobook narrated by Amin El Gamal reveals why it's definitely not the last danceIn this exhilarating journey into underground parties, pulsating with life and limitless possibility, acclaimed author Amin Ghaziani unveils the unexpected revolution... Read more
View audiobookSix Truths and a Lie
By: Ream Shukairy
Narrated by: Rasha Zamamiri, Ali Nasser & Lameece Issaq
Length: 10 hours 49 minutes
Abridged: No
Six Muslim teens are falsely accused of a deadly attack in this timely and harrowing examination of America’s justice system, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Samira Ahmed.
As fireworks pop off at a rowdy Fourth of July bonfire party, an explosion off the California coast levels an oil rig—resulting in chaos and worse, murder.
At the... Read more
The Moon That Turns You Back
By: Hala Alyan
Narrated by: Hala Alyan
Length: 1 hour 37 minutes
Abridged: No
From the author of The Arsonists’ City and The Twenty-Ninth Year, a new collection of poetry that traces the fragmentation of memory, archive, and family–past, present, future–in the face of displacement and war. A diaspora of memories runs through this poetry collection—a multiplicity of voices, bodies, and houses hold archival material for one... Read more
View audiobookBut You Don't Look Arab
By: Hala Gorani
Narrated by: Hala Gorani
Length: 8 hours 47 minutes
Abridged: No
Emmy Award-winning international journalist Hala Gorani weaves stories from her time as a globe-trotting anchor and correspondent with her own lifelong search for identity as the daughter of Syrian immigrants. What is it like to have no clear identity in a world full of labels? How can people find a sense of belonging when they have never felt... Read more
View audiobookAll This Twisted Glory
By: Tahereh Mafi
Narrated by: Kate Reading
Length: 11 hours 30 minutes
Abridged: No
A New York Times bestselling series!The highly anticipated third novel in the This Woven Kingdom series, full of powerful magic, searing romance, and heartbreaking betrayal, from the award-winning and bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sabaa Tahir, and Tomi Adeyemi.As the long-lost heir to the Jinn... Read more
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