November 2025: When University Presses, Reviews, and Festivals Align

I finally got time to sit and reflect on what happened in the past 3 weeks. As usual with such trips, all I can say is that it hasn’t been less than magical. The whole thing was amazing; starting from attending the Les Utopiales sci-fi conference in Nantes, then flying over to Toronto for the Festival of Authors, and going to Tucson to visit Fil’s sweet parents, then a 4th visit to the University of Alabama, and exploring Atlanta before heading back to Amman — a city I haven’t visited before.

With Fil’s family in Tuscon

Along with all the action of flying between cities and continents, running from a conference to another, and talking to different audiences about my books, I received more love from Lithub (one of the most popular literary portals) in the form of listing The Man of Middling Height alongside 16 other Great Books in Translation From University Presses published this year. And even before embarking on this trip, just a few days from leaving Amman, The Man of Middling Height received an amazing review on Strange Horizons — one that I shared before but can’t stop talking about. And to top it off, Harvard Bookstore in Boston put the book in their window for University Press Week — hurray!

Harvad Book Store Window Nov 2025

Looking back and thinking about the planning I put into this trip, it sounds like a crazy thing to do. I was too ambitious trying to attend two important conferences across the ocean happening at the same time, and on top of that, planning more events in the US. But hey, I DID it! I managed to make it work; three nights in Nantes, two Nights in Toronto, a week in Tucson, three nights in Tuscaloosa and 10 days in Atlanta. All the stress is behind me now. It was even crazier because I had to wait until the last minute to finalize the planning. Although I applied for it back in July, the Canadian Visa only arrived three days before I left Amman. My contingency plan was to fly from Nantes to NYC instead of Toronto, but I didn’t have to.

Anyway!

Les Utopiales 9:15am session! Les Utopiales

Les Utopiales was literally amazing. The planning, the crowd, the set up, the conversation, the engagement, and the excitement about science fiction and imagining the future. I was IMPRESSED. I didn’t realize how big scifi and fantasy are in France. People were queuing early in the morning to enter the venue. There were queues in front of each and every session, sometimes 30 minutes before the doors opened. I have never seen anything like that. The conference’s bookstore was huge, always busy, and full of beautiful covers for new releases of books that make you wish you could read French. I have always been fascinated by the love of the French for books and literature, but today, after Les Utopiales, I am in more awe. Respect! At the same time, it made me feel sad about the number of sci-fi produced books in the Arab world. It made me think that if we were to plan such a festival in one of the Arab cities, the bookstore would have a single table, with a number of books that wouldn’t exceed one’s fingers. Hope that changes with time as literary production is thriving all over the Arab world, and science fiction is a genre with a great potential that is still untapped.

Lunch with Hikaya’s team

I was really happy to meet Hikaya’s team again, my awesome French publishers Davide Knecht and Romain Delplancq. I enjoyed witnessing their enthusiasm and passion for connecting with fellow players in the industry, and I am so thankful for their hospitality and their faith in me and my writings.

Quiet Revolutions panel: Ziyad Saadi and Fadi Zaghmout, moderated by Samia BadihTIFA

Toronto’s Festival of Author felt more cozy, taking place at the historical Victoria College at the University of Toronto. My arriving for the last day of the festival meant that I had to miss most of the fun. Nevertheless, it was wonderful connecting with one of my dearest friends Hani Yakan again after three years of him leaving Dubai. Hani used to work at Emirates Literature Foundation in 2022 when he moderated the session launching the Arabic version of The Man of Middling Height (Ibra wa Kushtuban), now he is an event producer at TIFA, and he managed to invite me to the festival to have a proper launch for the English version (Thank you Hani).

With Hani at TIFA

It was also cozy as other friends showed up; Fil, Nadeem, Moe, Len and Ted, and Ward (a Syrian avid reader who used to live in Amman but moved to Canada recently. I knew him online and it was the first time we met in person — Thank you for coming Ward). It was great meeting Samia Badih, the amazing moderator who moderated my session, and my fellow author and panelist, Palestinian Canadian author Ziyad Saadi. I don’t want to miss anyone, but I was also happy to meet Festival Director Roland Gulliver, other festival staff, and other participating authors, especially Catherine Newman (such a sweet person).

Talking about The Man of Middling Height University of Alabama

I was there in April this year to talk to the students of Women in the Arab World class (ARB 363) who read The Bride of Amman. It always makes me proud to think that one of my books is being taught in an American University. This time, my visit had two purposes; to talk to the students who read the book this semester, and do an event for my newly released book The Man of Middling Height. It was so wonderful meeting Prof. Cheryl Toman again, Cheryl who supported me through the entire process of getting a publisher for the book and wrote a wonderful afterword for it (I can’t thank her enough). It was also wonderful meeting again other teachers of the Arabic program, Prof Safa El Naili and Ibrahim Khalaylih — great people whom I love and respect.

With student of Women in the Arab World class

I know it is a lot to capture. A lot to remember. And much to be thankful about. This trip has been rewarding to me on so many levels, some of which I haven’t mentioned here. But all in all, it fills my heart with joy to connect with all of these people, and feel all of the love and support.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all.