Samar Yazbek

Finalist, 2021 National Book Awards

Samar Yazbek is a Syrian writer, novelist, and journalist. She was born in Jableh in 1970 and studied literature before beginning her career as a journalist and a scriptwriter for Syrian television and film. Her novels include Child of Heaven, Clay, Cinnamon, and In Her Mirrors. (Photo credit: Muhsin Akgun Raya Agency)
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Planet of Clay

ISBN 9781642861013 World Editions

Rima, a young girl from Damascus, longs to walk, to be free to follow the will of her feet, but instead is perpetually constrained. She finds refuge in a fantasy world full of colored crayons, secret planets, and The Little Prince, reciting passages of the Qur’an like a mantra as everything and everyone around her is blown to bits. More about this book >

Full Bio

Samar Yazbek

Samar Yazbek is a Syrian writer, novelist, and journalist. She was born in Jableh in 1970 and studied literature before beginning her career as a journalist and a scriptwriter for Syrian television and film. Her novels include Child of Heaven, Clay, Cinnamon, and In Her Mirrors. Her nonfiction includes her accounts of the Syrian conflict, A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolution and The Crossing: My Journey to the Shattered Heart of Syria. Yazbek’s work has been translated into multiple languages and has been recognized with numerous awards—notably, the Best Foreign Book Sofitel Award, the PEN Award for Freedom of Expression, the PEN Tucholsky Award, and the PEN Pinter Prize.

(Photo credit: Muhsin Akgun Raya Agency)

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