About Us
THE AFGHAN REVIEW is an online Afghan literary journal. We publish reviews on books of all genres that address important topics affecting Afghan communities.
When we rebuild our literature, we rebuild our selves.
Our reviews are critical, and they are honest. We want to celebrate all of the amazing literature published about and from Afghanistan while maintaining our integrity as critics. We highly encourage our audience to read and, if you can afford to, buy every book featured on this website—no matter if we’ve given it a “high” or “low” rating. Every book and every voice is important in shaping an Afghan diasporic literary identity--especially yours. So, continue the conversation--talk about books, post about books, even write your own.
We do not write against a time limit. We believe books can influence our lives and our world today regardless of when they were published, so we publish reviews of books from the 10th century C.E. alongside books published within the past month.
We value multilingualism, so we review books written in multiple languages, especially Dari and English.
Read on to find new, exciting Afghan authors to cherish. And don't forget to buy their books :)
Happy reading!
About Zarlasht
Zarlasht Niaz runs this site, and every post on here is written by her (including, awkwardly, this self-congratulatory bio). She is an Afghan American writer and a founder of the nonprofit Afghan Refugee Aid. She has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and her work focuses on children’s literature and poetry. She was an inaugural Mirrors and Windows Fellow and a PB Rising Stars Mentee. Her essay "Home is Where the Haleem" is published in the anthology What We Hunger For: Refugee and Immigrant Stories on Food and Family.
How to Request a Review
Refer to our contact page for instructions on requesting a review. To send us a copy of a book for review, email us at theafghanreview@gmail.com. Hard copies, rather than digital copies, are more likely to be reviewed in a timely manner.
You do not have to be an author or editor to request a review--we are happy to accept requests from the general public. Our ability to meet our community's requests depends on factors like the feasibility of procuring the requested book.
Support Us
Reviews on The Afghan Review are written, edited, and published on a voluntary basis. We do not accept fees for reviews or subscriptions.
If you would like to support our mission, please consider donating to the nonprofit Afghan Refugee Aid. All donations are tax deductible and used to provide free creative writing classes for Afghan women and girls taught by professional writers.