MAROUANE BAKHTI / How to Leave the World

Marouane Bakhti, trans. Lara Vergnaud
How to Leave the World, 2024
Paperback, 112 pages 
21.6 x 13.9 cm
Divided Publishing 

Everyone is asking about his identity. Gay? Muslim? French? Moroccan? Instead of choosing a side, he writes a book. A book about the forest and the city, Paris and Tangiers, shame and forgiveness, dating apps and spiritual discovery. A book about growing up as a diaspora kid in rural France, with desires that want to emerge at any cost. Told in mesmerising prose, How to Leave the World is a beautiful non-answer.

Shortlisted for the 2025 Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses.