198x129mm, 188 pages, Paperback
ISBN: 9781914325540 Price: £9.99 Available: October 2024 
Wadian Al Abraizi |
Wadian Al-Abraizi,
Khaled Ahmed Al-Youssef Arabic literature traces its roots back the great nomadic poets of the pre-Islamic era – a tradition of lyric verse, transmitted orally and every bit as powerful as Homer or the Greek legends. It is a tradition that is alive and well today, carried by contemporary writers such as Khalid Ahmed Al-Yousuf in this spelling-binding love story.
Ancient tribal bonds, the very fabric of life in the once unforgiving sands, interplay today against the backdrop of a sensual relationship in modern-day Al-Khobar, Buraiydah and the whole Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Al-Youssef draws a line from the modern glass skyscrapers back to ancient souqs – once the mainstay of this community before the influx of oil wealth that characterises it today. Torn by love-hate for the rigid rules of tradition and by the torture of watching his rich cultural history wrestling to adapt to a modern world characterised by political unrest, warfare and a new morality, Al-Youssef’s protagonist presents a deeply thoughtful, if at times disturbing, insight that examines identity and integrity. The Valleys of Abraizi draws back the curtain and gives an international reader a secret view of a society in dramatic flux today.
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Born in Dukhna, a suburb of Ryadh, in 1960, Khaled Ahmed Al Youssef studied at the College of Social Sciences at Imam Muhammad bin Saud University and graduated in the field of library studies and technology. He went on to work as Director of a major library in Saudi Arabia, and is well known in his homeland as a literary figure and prolific writer of books and short stories, often recounting tales that relate something of the history of Saudi Arabia.
He is an important figure in the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts and a member of many literary associations including the Riyadh Literary Club Library and the Scientific Council of the Saudi Literature Chair at King Saud University in Riyadh. He has also served as editor of The World of Books magazine (Alam al-Kutub) and The Arab Magazine amongst a wide range of other literary publications and journals. |
