MY 130 GO TO BOOKS AND FILMS ON AFGHANISTAN

By Humaira

When I’m working as an Afghanistan Cultural Consultant on stage productions, people always ask me about Afghanistan related books and movies. I’ve curated “My 130 List” of non-fiction and fiction as well as documentaries, films, and photographer relating to Afghanistan and the Islamic world.

So, I invite you to enjoy this list and share with others who might be on the journey of learning about Afghanistan. I have not read all of these books and nor do I promote or endorse any specific writer, film maker or type of message. If you would like to make suggestions of books, films or documentaries to be included in the master, please drop me a note in the comment section of my blog.

Below are some of my favorite books and why they’ve made it on my top picks from the “My One Hundred

From my Non-Fiction bookshelf:

I can’t tell you how often I reference this book and its sister book, Zarbul Masalha: 151 Afghan Dari Proverbs in my writing. It’s the only comprehensive book of Afghan proverbs which has been compiled and shared by my friend Edward Zellem an American who fell in love with Afghan sayings. These books have been translated into 17 languages.

Check it out here.

No sane Afghan walks across Afghanistan so you can imagine the reception, Rory Stewart, a British writer (now politician) received during his journey which began in 2002, shortly after the Taliban were deposed and the United States invaded Afghanistan.

Check it out here.

One of the best written and comprehensive books on the history of Afghanistan that has ever been written. If you’re going to read only one book about Afghanistan, this book is for you.

Check it out here.

This is the sequel to Ghost Wars, a book I’ve recommended over and over when people ask me about the current history of Afghanistan. Directorate S is an in-depth study of U.S.’s involvement in Afghanistan, all the cast of the characters that have been involved and the issues plaguing Afghanistan and the United States today.

Check it out here.

And from the Fiction side:

I would say this book is one of writer Khaled Hosseini’s literary works which highlights his talent as a writer and a storyteller of epic proportions. Khaled weaves an intricate carpet of stories starting from the villages of Afghanistan, going through the upper middle class families of Kabul in the 60’s before heading to the islands of Greece and finally finding it’s grounding in California.

Check it out here.

I must admit, I have not read this book but I have great respect for Atiq Rahimi’s prolific writing. I added this to the list of recommendations not only for you but for myself.

Check it out here.

Deborah Rodriguez’s talent as a storyteller shines through every page of this fast-paced and entertaining book. This is a great beach read and of course the fact that the publisher included several of my desert recipes at the end of the book makes me extra attached to it.

Check it out here.

These books are immensely important in giving us a glimpse into Afghan lives, history, and continued turmoil. I’ve been honored to share in some of the experiences of them, such as writing the foreword for Mataluna, interviewing Khaled Hosseini or sharing some of my recipes in The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul. By no means is this a complete list as I am a firm believer in Abigail Adams’ quote, “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”

DARI & PASHTO ILLUSTRATED FOLK TALES:CHILDREN'S BOOKS

By Humaira with Sally Mallam

It seems that I have more to say about Afghan culture than food lately. I've been immersed in several cultural projects that has kept me in my office and out of the kitchen. In this post, I’d like to tell you about Hoopoe Books, publisher of 12 beautifully illustrated children’s books that are based on traditional stories from Afghanistan and the surrounding region. I met Sally Mallam several years ago at a conference and I was impressed with her dedication to preserving and sharing Afghan culture. Those of you interested in Afghanistan and with children will surely appreciate the great work Hoopoe Books are doing.

Hoopoe has been publishing these tales since 1998, when it launched a series of Teaching-Stories collected and adapted for children by Afghan author Idries Shah. In 2015, they added two more titles: THE STRANGER’S FAREWELL and THE WISDOM OF AHMAD SHAH, which are retold by Palwasha Bazger Salam, an Afghan educator who is also Hoopoe’s Director of Education for its Books for Afghanistan program.

Though that program, Hoopoe and its implementing partner in Kabul, Khatiz Organization for Rehabilitation, have provided more than 4.4 million of these books in Dari-Pashto (Books for Afghanistan) and English editions to NGOs, schools, orphanages and street children in all 34 provinces, and have trained more than 550 Afghan teachers. Hoopoe donated book to my non-profit, Afghan Friends Network which our students love. Along with ancillary, self-explanatory Teacher Guides, Hoopoe has also created Dari and Pashto audio versions of six stories for classroom use, as well as programs for local Afghan radio.

Hoopoe’s books depict the people, clothing, architecture and animals indigenous to Afghanistan. The tales themselves – which are part of our rich oral tradition and have been told continuously for hundreds of years – focus on universal themes such as problem-solving, building self‐esteem, negotiation versus confrontation, overcoming difficulties and finding peaceful solutions. And the books have been commended by Western educators and psychologists, the U.S. Library of Congress, National Public Radio and others for their unique ability to foster social-emotional development, thinking skills and perception in children and adults alike.

Through its Share Literacy program, which was launched in 2000, Hoopoe has also distributed more than 840,000 of these books and related materials for teachers and parents – in English, Spanish and bilingual English-Spanish editions – to disadvantaged children and their teachers throughout the U.S. and Canada, working through Head Start and other established literacy programs.

Hoopoe has just come out with English-Pashto and English-Dari editions of these books, which are available now from Amazon and Ingram distributors.

Proceeds from the sale of these books will support Hoopoe’s Books for Afghanistan program.