An Excerpt from Eman Assad’s ‘No Sun in the Closed Room’
“And oh, he was so ready to see the look on his uncle’s face once he realized his magic wand had betrayed him.”
Palestinian-Kuwaiti
Novelist Eman Assad on Belonging and Identity in Kuwait
“Our identity was wholly attached [to our father’s], and a new duty was put in place, whereby you needed to express your loyalty to Kuwait. And how do you do that? By accepting the insulting names your country is called without objection.”
‘No Sun in the Closed Room’: An Exploration of Kuwaiti-Palestinian Identity and Belonging
Writer and translator Jenan Alhamli has put together a special section — with interview, excerpt, and review — to celebrate the 2021 release of Eman Assad’s debut novel, No Sun in the Closed Room, an exploration of Kuwaiti-Palestinian identity and belonging set in late summer, 1991.