A lyrical novel inspired by Arabian Nights that follows two men bound by love and memory amid the fallout of the Arab Spring. One is a Hakawati, a storyteller who keeps life moving by recounting childhood fables, losses and the cruelty he has faced for his sexuality, while Death quietly watches over their shared house.

The narrative moves across Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt before reaching Canada, blending mythic storytelling with a raw portrait of displacement, longing and perseverance. Themes of exile, identity, intimate devotion and the power of narrative are woven together in a haunting, elegiac voice.

Themes & setting

• Refugee and migration journey across the Levant and beyond
• Storytelling as survival; Arabian Nights influence
• LGBTQ experience, memory and mourning
• Published by Nightwood Editions (2017), paperback, 286 pages

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