We will meet to discuss Floodlines by Saleem Haddad, online on Sunday, September 27 at 1 pm EDT/19:00 CET. The author will also be in attendance.

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In the summer of 2014, three estranged sisters are drawn back into each other’s orbits through the discovery of their late father’s lost paintings. As Mediha, Zainab, and Ishtar lay claim to his legacy—an inheritance laced with exile, betrayal, and an Iraq they no longer recognise—Zainab’s son Nizar, a traumatized war correspondent, returns to the family fold. As summer bleeds into autumn and the truth about the family paintings unfurls, Mediha, Zainab, and Ishtar are forced to confront the personal and political betrayals that tore their family apart.

Spanning continents and decades, Floodlines grapples with legacy, memory, and family secrets, and charts the emotional and political aftershocks of the US-led invasion of Iraq. Inspired by Haddad’s family history, Floodlines is a contemporary Iraqi epic that explores family, queerness, and the disruptive legacies of (neo)colonialism in haunting, visceral prose.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Saleem Haddad was born in Kuwait City to an Iraqi-German mother and a Palestinian-Lebanese father. His critically acclaimed first novel, Guapa (2016), was awarded both a Stonewall Honour and the Polari Prize. His writing spans novels, short stories, essays, film, and television. His directorial debut, Marco, premiered in 2019 and was nominated for the Iris Prize for ‘Best British Short Film’. His writing has been supported by institutions such as Yaddo and the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. His second novel, Floodlines, will be published in February 2026. He lives in Lisbon, with roots in Amman, Beirut, and London.

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