My Dear Kabul

£10.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781399727990
Published:
05 Jun 2025
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
384 pages
Dimensions:
198x129mm
Weight:
0.000kgs
In August 2021 a women's creative writing group in Afghanistan shared news of political turmoil and the Fall of Kabul. These women were in the process of publishing a short-story collection when their world was turned upside down by the Taliban. In staying connected via WhatsApp messages, they established a lifeline; a vital space to keep their creativity alive, support each other and bear witness to the events unfolding around them. 'My Dear Kabul' is their story, and a collective diary of a year living under the Taliban.

* A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week *

'A real-time, moving and intimate portrait of a year living under the Taliban' DUA LIPA'S SERVICE95
'An intimate, courageous chronicle of life' OBSERVER, BOOK OF THE DAY
'A hugely important book' BERNARDINE EVARISTO
'A deeply moving collective memoir' LYSE DOUCET

In August 2021, as the Taliban approached the gates of Kabul, twenty-one women writers in Afghanistan messaged their WhatsApp group chat: they asked what news other had heard and if everyone was safe.

These women had been brought together as a writing group and were about to publish their first collection of short stories. Some were students, some newly married, one was a grandmother; all were afraid of what was now to come. Over the next year, in their makeshift online refuge, they shared the day-to-day reality of life after the Taliban retook Afghanistan. This is their collective diary, forming a powerful chorus of resistance and solidarity.

'Fascinatingly detailed and fiercely brave' GUARDIAN
'Its courage is momentous' ALI SMITH

About the Author: Untold Narratives works to develop and amplify the work of writers marginalised by community or conflict. Its translators and editors work collaboratively with writers to develop their craft, connect them to one another and share their stories with readers in their local languages, and globally in translation.

More Information
Number of pages 384

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