The Sleep Thief

‘Sleep thief is what the interrogator called me. I’ll never forget that. I would steal a few seconds of sleep so I could remain steadfast before them. The name stuck; I even dreamt about it, the same dream, night after night. I woke up not knowing what to do and drenched in sweat.’

The experimental first novel from International Booker-Prize longlisted Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem, The Sleep Thief follows the life of Gharib (“the Stranger”) Haifawi as he comes of age, is drawn into resistance, makes friends, meets lovers, pushes back against traditional values, longs to be free of the labels and expectations that burden him, rails against the commodification of suffering, and dreams of a Palestinian identity that will transcend sorrow.

''Ibtisam Azem’s oracular novel-in-stories The Sleep Thief concerns a Palestinian man’s experiences in his troubled homeland . . . The contrasts between never belonging to Israel as an Arab Palestinian, while still loving the ancestral land, are excavated with poignancy . . . Entrancing.'' Foreword Reviews

Ibtisam Azem is a Palestinian novelist and journalist based in New York. She has published a short story collection and two novels: The Sleep Thief (2026) and The Book of Disappearance (2024). The Book of Disappearance has been translated into ten languages.

Sinan Antoon is an Iraqi poet, novelist, scholar, and literary translator. He has published three poetry collections and five novels. His most recent work is Notes from a Lost Country. He is an associate professor of Arabic literature at New York University.

The experimental first novel from an International Booker-Prize longlisted Palestinian author.

Praise for The Book of Disappearance:

''Speculative and haunting, this is an exceptional exercise in memory-making and psycho-geography'' The International Booker Prize 2025 Judges

‘A thought-provoking examination of the complex dynamics of Israeli–Palestinian cohabitation.’ Ángel Gurria-Quintana, 2024 Books of the Year, Financial Times

‘Incredible . . . beautifully translated by Sinan Antoon . . . In The Book of Disappearance, silence is cold, it doesn’t respond, it haunts.'' Sarah Shaffi, Jhalak Review

‘Ibtisam Azem''s The Sleep Thief is the surreal and gorgeously imagined story of Palestinian Gharib Haifawi of Haifa. Rendered in the poetic register of a dream, this narrative tracks its protagonist''s coming of age against the historical years between the Naksa and the Intifadas. This beautiful debut novel is a portrait of resistance, grief, and ultimate triumph.’ Hannah Lillith Assadi

‘The bohemian Gharib Haifawi is an irresistable guide through the dreams and nightmares of a Palestine that still exists despite the violent superimposition of the Israeli state. Written in prose that evokes in the spirits of Emile Habibi and Daniil Kharms, The Sleep Thief is a surreal, brilliant dagger of a book.’ Molly Crabapple