The Book of SANA’A (A City In Short Fiction)

16th June 2025

The Book of SANA’A (A City In Short Fiction), edited by Laura Kasinof.

This is part of a series, with new city titles regularly added to the collection. The publisher brings together short stories written by authors who are native to the city in question, and then beautifully arranges translations by a selection of skilled translators. The series is published by Comma Press, a not-for-profit publisher and development agency specialising in short fiction from the UK and beyond.

There are already several titles dotted around England, including Newcastle and Liverpool, and further afield there are titles set in Prague, Cairo, Beijing, Coventry and particularly poignant at the moment, given the current situation, in Gaza.

Sana’a in Yemen occasionally appears on the news amidst rocket attacks launched by Houthi rebels and countered by other countries. I cannot say I have really given much thought to the city but in this collection of short stories, it comes across as a city with a fantastic old heart (a UNESCO World Heritage site, no less), its history stretching back a couple of millennia.

Editor Laura Kasinof introduces the city, describing it as unlike any other in the Arab world, sitting at 2,200 M above sea level and with a pronounced rainy season. She describes the buildings constructed of rammed clay, gypsum and accented with stained glass windows as a confection of “Gingerbread Houses“.

Buy Now

A virtually total crackdown on the freedom to write and express views has occurred since the Houthis took over and therefore, as the editor says, it is remarkable this collection of essays has even been published.

In the first story a young girl observes the trauma of the disappearance of their father, his whereabouts unknown. The loss to the family is unfathomable and devastating. Their mother initiates a huge change in the course of their lives and much is asked of the young daughter.

Another story is set in March 2011, when rebellion is in the air. The protagonist heads out, his mother affixing an amulet to his wrist for safety but the authorities are out for revenge. And the last story is short and sweet, full of trauma, a fitting end to the collection.

There is inventiveness amongst the narratives and a real sense of unabating and senseless violence pervading the country. This has been a good introduction for me to a city that has never really crossed my radar, other than in the news.

We were asked not to use the name of one of the contributors and were given a pseudonym, should we have chosen to mention that specific author. This, of course, is a sobering that that level of safety is necessary in order to avoid retribution.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Buy Now

Join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction) and BlueSky(tripfiction.bsky.social) and Threads (@tripfiction)

Subscribe to future blog posts