All of the information on this page has been provided by the author. If you need an author to have specialist skills, experience or knowledge please ask for more information about this ahead of booking them for an event. Please note that Scottish Book Trust cannot carry out Disclosure checks on Live Literature authors for most events. It is the responsibility of the person organising the event to carry out the appropriate Disclosure checks.
Leila Aboulela's work is characterised by its distinctive exploration of identity, migration and Islamic spirituality. Highlighting the challenges facing Muslims in Europe and "telling the stories of flawed complex characters who struggle to make choices using Muslim logic", Aboulela's work explores significant political issues. Her personal faith and the move, in her mid-twenties, from Sudan to Scotland, are a major influence on her work.
Leila Aboulela's works have been included in cultural educational programs supported by the British Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities in the US. One of her short stories 'Something Old, Something New', about a young Scottish man from Edinburgh who visits his fiancée's family in Sudan, is included in the GCSE English Literature syllabus. (Photo credit: Gary Doak)
Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian
Events will deliver
Mentoring; Panel event; Reading; Talk; Workshop
Audience will work with
English as an additional language (EAL)
Topics of work
Characters of colour & BAME characters; Class & society; Contemporary fiction; Discrimination & prejudice; Emigration & immigration; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Friendship; Gender equality; Health including mental health & wellbeing; Historical fiction; Loneliness & isolation; Love & romance; Politics; Religion & beliefs
