A Thousand Nights

A dazzling, powerful short story collection that weaves the voices of 17 Muslim women authors and editors… . With each one as lyrical and compelling as the next, this collection is a triumphant examination of imperialism and displacement, friendship and found family, and the power of story and imagination. A successful homage to the original A Thousand and One Nights, this exquisite short story collection is a folkloric tour de force.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Gripping, expansive… . The collected narratives feel authentic to Azad and Khanani’s frame tale as the authors rework myths and legends from around the Middle East and Asia. This anthology is a beautiful testament to the human spirit, and the power of hope and imagination in the face of unspeakable choices.
—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

While similar themes such as hope, resistance, longing, and fear resurface, each author retains her distinct style and roots herself in her own specific language. These tales move beyond the one-dimensional trope of the refugee experience as one of victimhood and, instead, reflect the fullness and complexity of the human experience… . While the collection may draw upon old, familiar tales, it is undoubtedly an anthology for current times, and will resonate with readers across cultures, traditions, and faiths.
—Quill and Quire (starred review)

Azad … and Khanani … curate and contribute to a captivating anthology of Muslim folklore that showcases stories from 15 female Muslim authors… . Narratives of survival and displacement move fluidly between revolutions against tyrants, encounters with bird catchers, and stories about royalty, generating a varied yet thematically cohesive mosaic.
—Publishers Weekly

The 15 tales, each by a different Muslim woman author, are drawn from cultures around the world, and their integration with the frame story renders them remarkably cohesive… . this work is a refreshing and effective variation on typical anthology formats. A timely collection, full of marvels and hard-won hope.
—Kirkus Reviews

[A] culturally rich collection… . The stories are compelling, but it is the four storytellers who really form the connective tissue here, their desperation driving them to—of all things—hope, as they carry and share their people’s stories to form deep, soul-sustaining connections. Their arrival at safety will be a welcome relief to readers, even if the stories must reach their end.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

A layered compilation that embodies culture, faith and especially a homeland… . Expertly unfolding a realistic story of survival to create a gripping anthology, A Thousand Nights provides a beautiful tribute to the magic of storytelling and its ability to create bright stars of hope and community in even the darkest of midnight skies.
—BookPage

Gorgeous and resonant, A Thousand Nights takes readers down winding paths of darkness and light with deeply nuanced tales of the jin, phoenixes, curses, blessed pots, brave cats, and, ultimately, the power of hope and community. Readers will savor each tale of this beautifully curated anthology. A fairy-tale collection for our times.
—Natasha Deen, author of The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad

The work of ages distilled into a gift for readers today. Each piece of this book links together, building a puzzle that sweeps us along into stories as old as they are timeless and as beautiful as they are necessary. Each story in this selection is a jewel, and each writer has given us their very best.
—E.K. Johnston, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Nafiza Azad

Nafiza Azad is the author of The Candle and the Flame, a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award, The Wild Ones, and Road of the Lost. She is also the coeditor, with Melody Simpson, of the nonfiction anthology Writing in Color. Born in Fiji, she lives in Alberta, Canada.

Intisar Khanani

Intisar Khanani is the author of the Sunbolt Chronicles and the Dauntless Path series. Her latest release, Memories of Ash, was a Kirkus Reviews pick for Best Teen and YA Fantasy of 2024. She lives in Cincinnati with her husband, two kids, and three cats.

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