For more than three decades, Abdulrazak Gurnah has been writing with a quiet and unwavering conviction about those relegated to the forgotten corners of history. Born in Zanzibar in 1948, Gurnah fled political oppression and settled in England at the age of 18. The author of numerous short stories and essays, as well as 10 novels, he has dedicated his writing career to examining the many ways that human beings can find themselves in exile: from their homes, families and communities and, perhaps most importantly, from themselves. His novels unfold in the intimate spaces created by families, companions and friendships: those spaces that are nurtured by love and duty yet rendered vulnerable by their very nature. In book after book, he guides us through seismic historic moments and devastating societal ruptures while gently outlining what it is that keeps those families, friendships and loving spaces intact, if not fully whole.

Lall, Rashmee Roshan (31 October 2021). "Abdulrazak Gurnah: the truth-teller's tale". openDemocracy . Retrieved 31 October 2021. Mengiste, Maaza (30 September 2020). "Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah review – living through colonialism". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021 . Retrieved 7 October 2021. King, Bruce (2006). "Abdulrazak Gurnah and Hanif Kureishi: Failed Revolutions". In Acheson, James; Ross, Sarah C.E. (eds.). The Contemporary British Novel Since 1980. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp.85–94. doi: 10.1007/978-1-349-73717-8_8. ISBN 978-1-349-73717-8. OCLC 1104713636.

Abdulrazak Gurnah was born on 20 December 1948 [5] in the Sultanate of Zanzibar. [6] He left the island, which later became part of Tanzania, at the age of 18 following the overthrow of the ruling Arab elite in the Zanzibar Revolution, [3] [1] arriving in England in 1968 as a refugee. He is of Arab heritage, [7] and his father and uncle were businessmen who had immigrated from Yemen. [8] Gurnah has been quoted saying, "I came to England when these words, such as asylum-seeker, were not quite the same – more people are struggling and running from terror states." [1] [9]

Kaigai, Kimani (May 2013). "At the Margins: Silences in Abdulrazak Gurnah's Admiring Silence and The Last Gift". English Studies in Africa. 56 (1): 128–140. doi: 10.1080/00138398.2013.780688. ISSN 0013-8398. S2CID 143867462. By the Sea (2001) [48] (longlisted for the Booker Prize [51] and shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize) [51]

About the contributors

Gurnah was born in 1948, growing up in Zanzibar. When Zanzibar went through a revolution in 1964, citizens of Arab origin were persecuted, and Gurnah was forced to flee the country when he was 18. He began to write as a 21-year-old refugee in England, choosing to write in English, although Swahili is his first language. His first novel, Memory of Departure, was published in 1987. He has until recently been professor of English and postcolonial literatures at the University of Kent, until his retirement.

Pilling, David (8 October 2021). "Abdulrazak Gurnah, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature". Financial Times. Refugee Tales – Comma Press". commapress.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021 . Retrieved 7 October 2021. a b "Abdulrazak Gurnah". Booker Prize. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021 . Retrieved 7 October 2021. Erskine, Elizabeth, ed. (1989). Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature for 1986. Vol.61. W. S. Maney & Son. p. 588. ISBN 0-947623-30-2. ISSN 0066-3786. Pringle said Gurnah had always written about displacement, “but in the most beautiful and haunting ways of what it is that uproots people and blows them across continents”.I am honoured to be awarded this prize and to join the writers who have preceded me on this list. It is overwhelming and I am so proud.”