10 novels by Abdulrazak Gurnah, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature

Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.” Gurnah hails from Tanzania and is the author of 10 books, all of which seek to represent issues of post colonialism, origin, racial and ethnic discrimination, and refugees. He was a Man Booker Prize judge in 2016 and currently lives in Cantebury. Here's a list of Abdulrazak Gurnah's novels!

Photo: Bloomsbury

Gurnah's debut novel 'Memory of Departure' was published in 1987. It is the story of Hassan, an Arab who decides to escape from the confinement that his city in the coastal regions of East Africa subjects him to. When he goes to live with an affluent relation, he is exposed to a new, glittery world that he explores for himself.

Photo: Grove Press

Exhausted by real life, Daud shelters himself as he writes letters that help him accept his past and present.

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Centering on origin and nativity like most of his works, 'Dottie' is the story of a young girl who wears rose tinted glasses, knowing nothing of the atrocities that her family had to suffer in order to establish themselves in Britain.

Photo: Random House UK

As Yusuf accompaniers his uncle to a different city, he is unaware of the fact that he has been sold by his father. Using his 12-year-old protagonist’s perspective, Abdulrazak Gurnah depicts the changing urban African scenario which is haunted by colonialism and corruption. 'Paradise' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994.

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It is the story of an anonymous African young man who escapes to England and returns to his native land after a long time, only to find disappointment and destruction.

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Long listed for the Booker Prize in 2001, 'By the Sea' is the story of Saleh Omar and Latif Mahmud, who are connected by their past and happen to meet in an English town. Their meeting unveils a story that takes the reader through the entire gamut of emotions.

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Hassanali finds Martin Pierce, an orientalist at his feet, thanking him for saving his life. The meeting leads to the beginning of an infatuation between Hassanali’s sister and Pierce which gradually turns into a full-fledged love affair which is forbidden, to say the least. Shortlisted for the Common Wealth Writer’s Prize in 2006, 'Desertion' explores love amidst conflict and chaos.

Photo: Bloomsbury

Abbas’s past, hitherto hidden, has to come to the fore now that both his children have to return home to look after their ailing father who suffers a collapse. Bedridden and unable to speak, how does Abbas unravel his past for his family?

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A story of exile, migration and betrayal, the story of Salim unveils the hatred, power struggles and machinations that lie underneath seemingly happy relationships.

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Set in a divided, colonized Africa, 'Afterlives' is the story of Ilyas, a child who is stolen by German colonial troops. He returns home after several years, only to find his sister given away and parents gone.

Photo: Bloomsbury Publishing

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