About this Event
We hope you can join us for an event in celebration of Saleem Haddad's new novel, Floodlines.
The author of the critically acclaimed and word-of-mouth sensation Guapa returns with a sweeping, multi-generational novel of fractured bonds and the power of artistic creation.
About the Book
In the summer of 2014, three estranged sisters are drawn back into each other’s orbits through the discovery of their late father’s lost paintings. As Mediha, Zainab, and Ishtar lay claim to his legacy—an inheritance laced with exile, betrayal, and an Iraq they no longer recognise—Zainab’s son Nizar, a war correspondent haunted by his time on the front lines, returns to the family fold. As summer bleeds into autumn and the truth about the paintings unfurls, the family is forced to confront the personal and political betrayals that tore them apart.
Spanning continents and decades, Floodlines grapples with grief and memory, and charts the emotional and political aftershocks of a century of war and revolution in Iraq and beyond. Inspired by the artistic legacy of Haddad’s great uncle, the Iraqi modernist painter Jewad Selim, Floodlines explores family, queerness, and the wounds of (neo)colonialism in haunting, visceral prose.
About the Author
Saleem Haddad was born in Kuwait City to an Iraqi-German mother and a Palestinian-Lebanese father. His first novel, Guapa, was published in 2016, receiving critical acclaim from the New Yorker, The Guardian, and others, and was awarded both a Stonewall Honour and the 2017 Polari First Book Prize. He has also published a number of short stories, including for the Palestinian sci-fi anthology 'Palestine +100'. He also writes for film and television; his directorial debut, Marco, premiered in March 2019 and was nominated for the 2019 Iris Prize for ‘Best British Short Film’. His work has been supported by institutions such as Yaddo and the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. He is currently based in Lisbon, with roots in London, Amman, and Beirut.
And we are delighted that this evening Saleem will be in conversation with Eric Karl Anderson of The Lonesome Reader Book Club.
All welcome!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Hatchards, 187 Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom
GBP 5.00 to GBP 10.00
