Leila Aboulela

Leila Aboulela is a novelist, playwright and short-story writer. She grew up in Khartoum and now lives in Scotland. Leila’s most recent novel, River Spirit, was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and Best Historical Fiction Book of 2023. Leila’s other novels are A New Year (Quick Reads), Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, The Translator, Minaret and Lyrics Alley, Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her short story collection Elsewhere, Home, won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila’s work has been translated into fifteen languages, and her audio plays The Insider, The Mystic Life and others were broadcast on BBC Radio. She has also extensively adapted her work for broadcast as audio drama. Leila was the first ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing and in 2025 was awarded the PEN Pinter Prize for her writing on faith, migration and the lives of Muslim women. She is Honorary Professor of the WORD Centre at the University of Aberdeen and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Represented by Stephanie Cabot.