Goran Baba Ali has written and published various literary and journalistic works in Kurdish, Dutch and English. As an ex-refugee, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, he has personally experienced some of the protagonist's hardship in this novel, including a few weeks living in a desert. Since he left Iraq in 1994, he has lived in various countries. After fifteen years in Amsterdam, he moved to London in 2012, where he completed an MA in creative writing at Birkbeck, University of London in 2019.More info: www.goranbabaali.com

"An unforgettable novel, made cruelly relevant by what has been taking place in Europe." (Neal Ascherson, Writer and Journalist); "A moving, intelligent story interrogating what it means to be a refugee." (Julia Bell, Senior Lecturer, Creative Writing); "Poetic and beautifully rendered, it probes the boundaries between those who have and those who seek." (Isabel Hilton OBE, Journalist and Broadcaster); "A Mesopotamian epic of migration. It tells of the human experience of dangerous crossings in search of hospitality." (Fazil Moradi, Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg).

Goran Baba Ali has written and published various literary and journalistic works in Kurdish, Dutch and English. As an ex-refugee, originally from Iraqi Kurdistan, he has personally experienced some of the protagonist's hardship in this novel, including a few weeks living in a desert. Since he left Iraq in 1994, he has lived in various countries. After fifteen years in Amsterdam, he moved to London in 2012, where he completed an MA in creative writing at Birkbeck, University of London in 2019.More info: www.goranbabaali.com

"An unforgettable novel, made cruelly relevant by what has been taking place in Europe." (Neal Ascherson, Writer and Journalist); "A moving, intelligent story interrogating what it means to be a refugee." (Julia Bell, Senior Lecturer, Creative Writing); "Poetic and beautifully rendered, it probes the boundaries between those who have and those who seek." (Isabel Hilton OBE, Journalist and Broadcaster); "A Mesopotamian epic of migration. It tells of the human experience of dangerous crossings in search of hospitality." (Fazil Moradi, Faculty of Humanities, University of Johannesburg).