For readers in Massachusetts who love Arabic literature, one of the most interesting book events of the fall is a quiet one: a Thursday evening conversation in a Cambridge bookstore. On Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026, from 7 to 8 p.m., Porter Square Books will host Palestinian novelist and journalist Ibtisam Azem for the release of The Sleep Thief, in conversation with Harvard's William Granara.

The book is not new in Arabic. It is Azem's first novel, published in 2011 as Sariq al-Nawm. What is new is the English edition, translated by Sinan Antoon and published in the United States on Sept. 22, 2026, by the independent press And Other Stories. For many readers here, it will be their first chance to read the novel that came before her internationally known The Book of Disappearance.

Who is Ibtisam Azem?

According to the Booker Prizes, Azem was born and raised in Taybeh, near Jaffa, the city from which her mother and maternal grandparents were internally displaced in 1948. She lived in Jerusalem and studied at the Hebrew University before moving to Germany and later to the United States. She is now based in New York, where she works as a journalist covering the United Nations and U.S. foreign policy.

Her second novel, The Book of Disappearance, also translated by Antoon, was longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize, the major award for fiction translated into English. That novel asks what would happen if all the Palestinians in Israel simply vanished one morning, and it follows a young Palestinian man, Alaa, and his Israeli neighbor, Ariel, against the backdrop of Jaffa and Tel Aviv. The Booker judges called it "speculative and haunting."

In an interview with the literary site ArabLit, Azem traced that book back to one of her first childhood memories: the stories of her grandmother from Jaffa, who was displaced to al-Tayibe, about 30 kilometers to the north, when Azem's mother was only a year old.

Azem also has a local tie this year. Harvard Radcliffe Institute named her a 2026–2027 fellow in fiction and poetry, holding the Mildred Londa Weisman Fellowship. Radcliffe says she will spend the year working on a novel that traces the history of a Palestinian family in Jaffa across three generations, and their relationship to land, settler-colonial law and organized crime.

What The Sleep Thief is about

The title comes from a line at the start of the book, quoted by both the publisher and the bookstore: "Sleep thief is what the interrogator called me. I'll never forget that. I would steal a few seconds of sleep so I could remain steadfast before them."

The novel follows Gharib Haifawi. His first name means "the stranger," and his family name points to Haifa. Gharib comes of age, is drawn into resistance, makes friends and falls in love, and pushes back against traditional values and the labels other people place on him. The publisher describes it as experimental and says he "rails against the commodification of suffering" and "dreams of a Palestinian identity that will transcend sorrow."

It is a short book. Porter Square Books lists the paperback at 112 pages and $18.95 (ISBN 9781916751538). Audio and e-book editions are also listed. Since the book deals with interrogation and political violence, parents may want to read it themselves before passing it to a teenager.

The translator and the conversation partner

Sinan Antoon, who translated both of Azem's novels, is an Iraqi poet, novelist and scholar. According to Porter Square Books, he is an associate professor of Arabic literature at New York University and has published three poetry collections and five novels.

Azem's partner on stage, William Granara, is Research Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at Harvard. The bookstore notes that he is a former director of Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the founding director of its Tunisia office. He writes about the literature and history of the Arab Mediterranean. His books include Narrating Muslim Sicily: War and Peace in the Medieval Mediterranean World (2019) and Ibn Hamdis the Sicilian: Eulogist for a Falling Homeland (2021), about the Arab poet of Muslim Sicily. That should make for a conversation that ranges well beyond one novel, touching on memory, homeland and how Arabic stories travel into English.

How to go

  • When: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2026, 7 to 8 p.m.
  • Where: Porter Square Books, Cambridge Edition, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140.
  • RSVP: The store's event page has an RSVP link. It does not list a ticket price, so check that page for current details before you go.
  • Parking: The store offers validated parking in the lot on Roseland Street behind Lesley University's University Hall. Ask for a validation barcode at the register; the store says no purchase is necessary. According to the store, parking there is free on weekends and on weekday evenings from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
  • Transit: The store is on Massachusetts Avenue in Porter Square, served by the MBTA Red Line and the Fitchburg commuter rail line at Porter station.

In late November, Maghrib comes in the late afternoon in Greater Boston, and Isha usually comes before a 7 p.m. start, so most people can pray at home or at their local masjid before heading over. The Islamic Society of Boston's masjid on Prospect Street in Cambridge is a few minutes' drive away. Check your own masjid's timetable for that day.

Why it matters here

Massachusetts is home to many Arabic speakers, students and scholars, and to Palestinian and Arab American families across the state. Events like this one are a chance to hear a Palestinian writer describe her own work in her own words, ask questions and meet neighbors who care about the same stories. If you can't make it, the store's event page is a good place to watch for future talks, and the book is available to order now.