Writing as Spiritual Offering: A Conversation with Leila Aboulela

Leila Aboulela is a Sudanese-born writer who moved to Scotland in her mid-twenties and now resides there, where she writes her critically acclaimed fiction in English. Though her novels have received much attention and praise in the UK, she is less known to American audiences. And yet, post-9/11 and amid our current national climate of fear and division, stoked by a jingoistic and racist president, our country and culture cry out for books like hers—works that painstakingly examine the East-West divide, illuminating the richness and complexity of intercultural relationships through the lives of characters who refuse to be pigeonholed; who remind us that humans are singular creatures who remain united by common needs: for a sense of home, for family, for love. Aboulela's latest novel, Bird Summons, will be released by Grove/Atlantic in February 2020. It follows three women who embark on a road trip to the Scottish Highlands that transforms into a journey of self-discovery in which the women grapple with the conflicting demands of family, duty, and faith. I completed this interview via email over the course of several weeks in fall 2019.