"This comprehensive anthology of North African texts is the first of its kind available in English. The editors' scholarship is impeccable, as is their selection, translation, and contextualization of the works presented here. Joris and Tengour demonstrate a deep understanding and intimate knowledge not only of the texts, but also the cultural context and literary processes of North Africa."--Silvia Nagy-Zekmi, author of Transatlantic Parallelisms

"One might think that the literary works of North Africa are off the map of Western Civilization. No one who reads this book will think that ever again. This comprehensive anthology of writers both famous and unfamiliar--spanning an enormous sweep of more than two millennia-- compels us to integrate the Maghreb into our understanding of European and Middle Eastern literature. With these compelling and informative translations, Joris and Tengour make crystal clear that this region has a claim on being one of the wellsprings of the culture we value in the West. In so doing, they restore to us a missing part of the 'cradle' of our civilization."--Charles Bernstein, author of Attack of the Difficult Poems: Essays and Inventions