My Road from Damascus

“A lyrical, extremely rich narrative of loss, memory, and trauma.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Jamal writes with brutal clarity — and yet, there is a poetic quality to the telling. He manages to hold in balance the idyllic memories of growing up in a land he loves, alongside his experiences inside Syrian prisons, where he peels back the dark walls and allows us to witness and pay heed to the unthinkable.” — Frances Itani
“This memoir tells not only of his time in Syria’s most brutal military prisons but of village life, youth, love, poetry, and a country and society warped from its potential.” — Quill & Quire
“Written in poetic prose in which the reader can trace the cadence of Saeed’s native Arabic — and which illustrates why Syrian philosopher Antun Maqdisi once likened Saeed to Maupassant — My Road from Damascus explains that love and loss are intertwined and shows how the former can help us withstand the latter.” —Quill & Quire
“This riveting memoir of a Syrian dissident, featuring an outstanding, often musical performance, deserves comparisons to Viktor Frank’s Man’s Search for Meaning in its ability to find the beauty of human connection in utterly inhumane conditions.” — Library Journal Audio Book Review
“It took me by surprise how Saeed is able to interweave calm detachment and often, even humour into situations that must have been bizarre and horri?c at the moment…The distance he maintains from his own moments of agony is remarkable. For a while, I forget, that the narrator is sharing his lived experience, and at the moment that I am reminded again, I feel a deep sense of honour and gratitude, that I should be allowed this candid peek into his life. Saaed makes a friend out of every reader.” — Whistler Writers Fest,

Jamal Saeed spent 12 years as a prisoner of conscience in Syria before being invited to Canada in 2016. He continues to raise awareness about Syria’s ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis through his work as an activist, editor, visual artist, and author. He lives in Kingston, ON.

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