Akram Aylisli (2024)

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Akram Aylisli is an Azerbaijani novelist, playwright, and editor. His works have been translated into more than twenty languages. Among his publications in English is Farewell Aylisli, a trilogy of novellas including the controversial Stone Dreams, which explores themes of understanding and mutual accountability among Azerbaijanis and Armenians. The publication of Stone Dreams in 2012 led to public burnings of Aylisli’s books in Azerbaijan. Since 2016, he has been the target of a politically motivated criminal investigation by the Azerbaijani government that imposes significant restrictions on all his activities; he lives under de facto house arrest in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Shortlisted for an award:

In May 2026, Cheuse Center board member Katherine E. Young’s translation of Akram Aylisli’s People and Trees (Plamen Press) was named one of three finalists for the 2026 European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Literature Prize. 

Dr Maya Jaggi, chair of the independent EBRD jury, had this to say about the book:

The first English translation of a classic Azerbaijani trilogy, People and Trees by Akram Aylisli is an enchanting coming-of-age story set in a mountain village in Soviet Azerbaijan amid an exodus of menfolk conscripted into the Second World War. The child’s-eye linked novellas expose the brutality of women’s lives, but also their spirited defiance. My fellow judges and I admired the skilful indirection of the narrative, the boy ingenuously revealing adult passions and crimes he scarcely grasps. Katherine E. Young’s vivid translation via the Russian opens a hidden world, conjuring a harsh yet magical childhood, filled with the taste of walnuts and pomegranates.

Ice by Jacek Dukaj, translated from Polish by Ursula Phillips (Head of Zeus/Bloomsbury), and On the Greenwich Line by Shady Lewis, translated from Arabic by Katharine Halls (Peirene Press), were also named as finalists.

The winning author and translator will be announced on 2 July at an awards ceremony at the EBRD’s headquarters in London. 

Previous Events:

A Book Launch and Conversation about Akram Aylisli's Peoples & Trees