In the quietness of a corpse washer’s workshop, Antoon explores the multiple faces of violence in Iraq.

One does not choose to wash corpses. It is a work that needs to be done, for the world to go on as we know it, and for the deceased to be buried like we know how to bury. One inherits this profession from their father, or one becomes a corpse washer out of necessity.
Alberto Mangel said of The pomegranate alone that it “is one of the most extraordinary novels that I’ve read in a long time. Its setting is war-torn Iraq, but its theme is the ageless tension between persistence and resignation that defines our mysterious human condition.”

The pomegranate alone was long-listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2014 (UK), and was the Best Arab-American Novel 2014 (USA).

French rights were acquired by Actes Sud (to appear). English rights were acquired by Yale university press.

New to the list! Fall 2014.