Leila Aboulela is one of my go-to authors. I know her words are always full of wisdom and inspiration, telling fascinating and insightful stories. I've read quite a few of her books over the last few years, and so I'm so thrilled that she was my guest on the show.

In this episode, we talk about her new novel, River Spirit which is out in March 2023, published by Saqi Books in the UK. We also talk about historical fiction, re-centring women in historical narratives, understanding slavery and how it differed over time and throughout the world, and the role that faith plays in Leila's writing.

Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Nominated three times for the Orange Prize (now the Women’s Prize for Fiction), she is the author of numerous novels, including Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, The Translator, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Minaret and Lyrics Alley, which was Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her collection of short stories Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila’s work has been translated into fifteen languages, and her plays The Insider, The Mystic Life and others were broadcast on BBC Radio. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and now lives in Aberdeen, Scotland.

You can find Leila on instagram on: @leilaaboulela 

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