My Dreadful Body
Debut novel by Egana Djabbarova
Debut novel by Egana Djabbarova
ORIGINAL TITLE: Руки женщин моей семьи были не для письма
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: No Kidding Press, 2023
128 PAGES
RIGHTS SOLD: Azerbaijani (Nebula), Czech (Paseka), French (Noir sur Blanc), German (Zsolnay Verlag), Estonian (Loomingu Raamatukogu), Portuguese for Brazil (Ars et Vita), Romanian (Alice Books), Swedish (Ersatz), Turkish (Kairos), UK (Linden Editions), US (New Vessel Press)
FULL ENGLISH TRANSLATION AVAILABLE
THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE 2026 LONGLIST
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“In the oval mirror I saw large, thick, black eyebrows that were, on my mother’s strict orders, not to be plucked. Not only did Allah forbid his creations from changing their bodies—I was not married. After all, the main event in the life of an Azerbaijani girl is her wedding, and this alone grants her the right to make alterations, even if Allah does not approve of them. In small mountain towns, you could easily distinguish an unmarried, innocent girl from a married woman: the first and most important tell was their eyebrows.”
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: No Kidding Press, 2023
128 PAGES
RIGHTS SOLD: Azerbaijani (Nebula), Czech (Paseka), French (Noir sur Blanc), German (Zsolnay Verlag), Estonian (Loomingu Raamatukogu), Portuguese for Brazil (Ars et Vita), Romanian (Alice Books), Swedish (Ersatz), Turkish (Kairos), UK (Linden Editions), US (New Vessel Press)
FULL ENGLISH TRANSLATION AVAILABLE
“In the oval mirror I saw large, thick, black eyebrows that were, on my mother’s strict orders, not to be plucked. Not only did Allah forbid his creations from changing their bodies—I was not married. After all, the main event in the life of an Azerbaijani girl is her wedding, and this alone grants her the right to make alterations, even if Allah does not approve of them. In small mountain towns, you could easily distinguish an unmarried, innocent girl from a married woman: the first and most important tell was their eyebrows.”