Women in Translation Month: Powerful Books by Women From Conflict-Affected Countries

Stories can take us places we’ve never been.

Women in Translation Month began in 2014 as an initiative by Meytal Radzinski to bring more translated literature by women to readers around the world.

Discover books by women from countries affected by conflict. See the world through someone else’s eyes, understand realities different from your own, and hear voices you might otherwise miss.

When you purchase one of these inspiring reads through our Bookshop, 10% of sales will be donated to Women for Women International, while another 10% will go directly to independent bookshops.

Our Lady of the Nile, Scholastique Mukasonga, Rwanda

At a Catholic girls' school, a group of students navigate friendship, rivalry, dreams, and belonging. As tensions quietly grow beyond the school walls, their lives reveal the fears, prejudices, and fragile relationships of a society on the brink of tragedy.

About the author: A Rwandan author and genocide survivor whose writing preserves the memory of pre-genocide Rwanda and reflects on exile, violence, and cultural identity.

The Baghdad Clock, Shahad Al Rawi, Iraq

In Baghdad in 1991, two young girls meet in an air-raid shelter during the Gulf War and become close friends. As war, sanctions and displacement reshape their city, their childhood slowly gives way to a very different reality. Through memory, dreams and imagination, the novel captures what it means to grow up surrounded by war.

About the author: Shahad Al Rawi is an Iraqi writer, novelist and anthropologist born and raised in Baghdad. The Baghdad Clock was her debut novel and won the Edinburgh First Book Award.

Catch the Rabbit, Lana Bastašić, Bosnia and Herzegovina

After years apart, Sara returns to Bosnia when her childhood friend Lejla asks her to help find her missing brother. Their road trip becomes a journey through memories of childhood and the Bosnian War. Along the way, they confront friendship, loss, identity and the ways war continues to shape lives long after it ends.

About the author: Lana Bastašić is a Bosnian writer whose debut novel won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2020. She translated Catch the Rabbit into English herself. 

Sin Is a Puppy That Follows You Home, Balaraba Ramat Yakubu, Nigeria

This lively novel follows the tangled relationships, marriages and family dramas of women in northern Nigeria. Blending romance, domestic conflict, humour and melodrama, it offers an intimate look at everyday life rather than the stereotypical stories often told about Africa. It is also a fascinating example of the Hausa popular-fiction tradition. 

About the author: Balaraba Ramat Yakubu is a Nigerian novelist and filmmaker who has been one of the bestselling Hausa-language authors since publishing her first novel in 1987. She has also written and directed films for Kannywood, Nigeria's Hausa-language film industry.

Edo's Souls, Stella Gaitano, South Sudan

Spanning generations and moving between Sudan and South Sudan, Edo's Souls explores a family and a people shaped by war, displacement and political violence. The dead remain present through memories, dreams and stories as the characters struggle with inherited trauma. It is an intergenerational story about motherhood, loss, survival and the search for identity.

About the author: Stella Gaitano is a South Sudanese writer and activist whose work explores war, displacement and life in the two Sudans. Born in Khartoum, she writes in Arabic and has lived in exile in Germany since 2022.

The Sea Cloak, Nayrouz Qarmout, Palestine

This collection of eleven stories offers intimate glimpses into everyday life in Gaza through predominantly female characters. Qarmout writes about family, displacement, childhood, love, violence and the restrictions placed on women's lives. Together, the stories offer a deeply local perspective on a place so often reduced to headlines and statistics.

About the author: Nayrouz Qarmout is a Palestinian writer, journalist and women's rights campaigner. Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, she later returned to Gaza, where she continues to work on gender and women's rights issues. 

The Museum of Abandoned Secrets, Oksana Zabuzhko, Ukraine 

When filmmaker Daryna discovers an old photograph of a Ukrainian woman who died during World War II, she begins investigating her life. Her search connects the past with contemporary Ukraine, uncovering secrets, trauma and histories that were never fully told. 

About the author: 

When you purchase one of these inspiring reads through our Bookshop, 10% of sales will be donated to Women for Women International, while another 10% will go directly to independent bookshops.