Abdulrazak Gurnah Books in Order
Abdulrazak Gurnah has written 11 books, published between 1987 and 2025. The first book is Memory of Departure (1987) and the newest is Theft (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 11
- Published
- 1987–2025
- Pages on record
- 2,371 in 9 of 11 books
- Reading time
- 40–59 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,371 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 9 of 11 titles with a page count on record.
Abdulrazak Gurnah is a Tanzanian novelist and academic, born on 20 December 1948 in the Sultanate of Zanzibar and of Yemeni origin. Gurnah came to the United Kingdom as a refugee in the 1960s, at the time of the Zanzibar Revolution. The catalogue lists 11 books from Memory of Departure (1987) to Theft (2025). Paradise (1994) reached the Booker and Whitbread shortlists; By the Sea (2001) made the Booker longlist and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize shortlist; Desertion (2005) was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Subjects include Africa, refugees, immigrants and England.
How many Abdulrazak Gurnah books are there?
Abdulrazak Gurnah has 11 books, released between 1987 and 2025.
Abdulrazak Gurnah Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 11 Abdulrazak Gurnah books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Memory of Departure1987 · confirmed 1/41987–1/4
- 2Pilgrim's Way1988 · 232 pages · confirmed 1/419882321/4
- 3Dottie1990 · 332 pages · confirmed 1/419903321/4
- 4Paradise1994 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/419942561/4
- 5Admiring Silence1996 · 216 pages · confirmed 1/419962161/4
- 6By the Sea2001 · 245 pages · confirmed 1/420012451/4
- 7Desertion2005 · 262 pages · confirmed 1/420052621/4
- 8The Last Gift2011 · 279 pages · confirmed 1/420112791/4
- 9Gravel Heart2017 · 261 pages · confirmed 1/420172611/4
- 10Afterlives2020 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/420202881/4
- 11Theft2025 · confirmed 1/42025–1/4
Abdulrazak Gurnah books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Standalone books
11 books11 Abdulrazak Gurnah titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Abdulrazak Gurnah books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 11 Abdulrazak Gurnah books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Abdulrazak Gurnah
Start with Memory of Departure (1987), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Abdulrazak Gurnah book?
Theft (2025) is the newest Abdulrazak Gurnah book released so far.
Is there a new Abdulrazak Gurnah book coming?
No next Abdulrazak Gurnah book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Abdulrazak Gurnah has won
Wikidata records 1 award and 2 nominations for Abdulrazak Gurnah. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Nobel Prize in Literature2021Won
- Booker Prize2001Shortlistedfor By the Sea
- Booker Prize1994Shortlistedfor Paradise
Abdulrazak Gurnah at a glance
- Still publishing
- Abdulrazak Gurnah published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Abdulrazak Gurnah books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
- Length
- 2,371 pages across the 9 of 11 books with a recorded length, a median of 261 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Abdulrazak Gurnah books, 3 of 11, were published in the 1990s.
What the Abdulrazak Gurnah books are about
10 of the 11 Abdulrazak Gurnah books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) is tagged on 5 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.