Women Recommending Women: Favorite Book Spaces

To mark Women in Translation Month (#WiTMonth), ArabLit’s Meriem Essaoudy talked with women who write in Arabic around the world, asking them to recommend favorite contemporary and classic books by women, remarkable women in publishing, and also favorite women-run book spaces.

You can read the whole of it by subscribing to our Monthly Newsletter for Publishing Professionals; we also share the list of favorite book spaces here.

Maktaba Bookshop (Montreal, Canada)

Recommended by Badar Salem

Maktaba bookshop in Montréal, a cultural space co-founded by Iraqi artist Sundus Abdul Hadi (with her husband) in 2013. Part library, part lively living room, it’s the kind of place where books and conversation spill into each other.

Atras Bookshop (Baghdad, Iraq)

Recommended by Inaam Kachachi

Run by sisters Ban and Zainab Al-Rikabi, Atras Bookstore is a rare literary and cultural space for reading, discussions, and dialogue. True to its motto—“Coffee, Solitude, Books”— Atras Bookstore offers a welcoming refuge for readers and writers alike.

Sijal Book Club (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

Recommended by Najwa Bin Shatwan

Founded in 2015, Sijal Book Club is a women-led reading club that has created a vibrant space for dialogue around literature, ideas, and culture. The club’s most remarkable feature is its longevity, diverse reading selections and activities, and its role in fostering an engaged community of readers.

Trebisonda Libreria (Turin, Italy)

Recommended by Amal Bouchareb

Owned by Malvina Cagna, who has built more than just a bookstore, Trebisonda Libreria has become one of the most vibrant cultural hubs in Italy for promoting and celebrating Arab literature. In the multicultural heart of the San Salvario neighborhood, it serves as a literary bridge between cultures and a welcoming destination for readers eager to discover Arabic literature in translation.

SWANA Rose Culture and Community Center (Portland, Oregon, USA)

Recommended by Yasmeen Hanoosh

A women-led cultural hub dedicated to education, the arts, and intersectional solidarity, SWANA Rose brings together books, community engagement, and dialogue. It is also home to the Center for the Study and Preservation of Palestine Library, which since October 2023 has been serving to educate the local community about the history of Palestine and its colonization since 2023.

Snoubar Bayrout Bookshop (Beirut, Lebanon)

Recommended by Iman Humaydan

Snoubar Bayrout Bookshop was established fifteen years ago as an act of hope and resistance against despair by Hala El Bzri. Through publishing and republishing books on Beirut’s artistic and cultural heritage, the bookshop is dedicated to preserving the city’s memory and celebrating literature as a keeper of Lebanon’s collective past.

Mish.Mash Café (Dublin, Ireland)

Recommended by Alaa Alqaisi

Mish.Mash is a small woman-owned café on Capel Street that has become a cherished literary refuge. Hosting silent reading gatherings where people sit together with their separate books, it offers a rare atmosphere of quiet concentration and reflection—a place where, as Alaa Alqaisi writes: “This place has become one of the places in Dublin where I hear my own thoughts clearly.”

Fattoush Bookshop (Haifa, Palestine)

Recommended by Asmaa Azaizeh

Fattoush Bookshop was founded in 2016 in response to the long-standing isolation of Palestinian readers from Arabic books and culture. For Asmaa Azaizeh as a bookseller and co-founder of Fattoush Bookshop, it represents “a lost paradise made tangible”—a space that preserves connection, community, and the Arabic literary tradition despite decades of cultural separation.

Kitab Yajma‘na: Rainbow Theatre Book Club (Amman, Jordan)

Recommended by Shahla Ujayli

At Rainbow Theatre, the oldest theatre in the heart of Amman, owner Dr. Reem Abu Lughod and content creator Amwaj Abu Hamdeh launched the Book Club initiative, hosting leading Arab writers in open conversations with audiences. The initiative also presents Arab and international film and theatre screenings, reviving the tradition of the multi-purpose theatre and restoring meaningful dialogue between writers and readers beyond the virtual world. Created by Rand Arsheed, Kitab Yajma‘na is one of Jordan’s oldest women’s book clubs. It has grown into a thriving community of women readers, regularly welcoming authors to discuss their literary works.

Black Pearl Books (Austin, Texas, USA)

Recommended by Jana Fawaz El Hassan

A family-run independent bookstore whose goal is to promote diversity, inclusion, and representation through literature. Black Pearl Books is admired for its welcoming atmosphere, thoughtfully curated collection, and commitment to building an inclusive literary community.