Map Reading

An inspiring and moving collection of speeches and essays from the Nobel Laureate in Literature 2021

‘One of the world’s most prominent postcolonial writers … He has consistently and with great compassion penetrated the effects of colonialism and its effects on the lives of uprooted and migrating individuals’ Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Committee

Delivered in London on 7 December 2021, 'Writing' is the lecture of the Nobel Laureate in Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah. Collected here with three further essays, it explores his coming-of-age, his early experiences in 1960s Britain, the narratives of oceans, his lifelong love affair with reading, and the power of writing to subvert the stories that have been handed to us.

Generous, funny and wise, this collection is the perfect introduction to the storyteller described as ‘one of Africa’s most important living writers’; whose work, now spanning four decades, continues to spin wonder and magic while offering penetrating insight into exile, migration and homecoming.

'In book after book, he guides us through seismic historic moments and devastating societal ruptures while gently outlining what it is that keeps those families, friendships and loving spaces intact' Maaza Mengiste

'A wondrous writer' Philippe Sands