Saara El-Arifi

Saara El-Arifi
El-Arifi at the British Library in 2023
Born	Abu Dhabi, UAE
Alma mater	University of Kent (BA) SOAS University of London (MA)
Years active	2022–present
Website	www.saaraelarifi.com

Saara El-Arifi is a British fantasy author of Sudanese and Ghanaian descent. Her debut novel, The Final Strife , was published in 2022 by Del Rey Books in the United States and HarperVoyager in the United Kingdom. ^[1] It is the first in the Ending Fire trilogy, which draws inspiration from West African and Arabian mythology, and was selected as one of Amazon's best books of 2022. ^[2]

Life and career

El-Arifi was raised in Abu Dhabi before relocating to Sheffield with her family. ^[3] Her father was Muslim and her mother was raised Christian. ^[4]

Her career as an author began in 2022 with the publication of The Final Strife, represented by Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment. ^[5] Faebound, the first in a new romantasy trilogy, ^{[6] [7]} was published in 2024 and became an instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller. ^[8] The novel was also longlisted for the TikTok Awards UK & Ireland 2024. ^[9] In 2023, rights to El-Arifi's next two projects, Cleopatra and The Queen of Sheba, were acquired by the Borough Press. ^[10] Cleopatra will tell the story of Cleopatra VII, opening at the moment she discovers she is Pharaoh of Egypt.

El-Arifi holds a BA (Hons) in Theatre Studies from the University of Kent ^[11] and an MA in African Studies from the SOAS University of London. ^[12]

Bibliography

The Ending Fire series

• The Final Strife (2022)
• The Battle Drum (2023)
• The Ending Fire (2024)

The Faebound series

• Faebound (2024)
• Cursebound (2025) ^[13]

References

1. Cowdrey, Katherine. "Double six-figure deals for African-inspired epic fantasy debut" The Bookseller, 8 July 2020
2. Fiorillo, Katherine. "The 20 best books of 2022 so far, according to Amazon editors". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
3. Wright, Jonathan (2024-01-24). "Reimagining fantasy: meet one of the brightest new stars of the genre". SFX. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
4. "Saara El-Arifi on the Inspiration Behind The Final Strife". Waterstones.com. 2022-05-20.
5. "Saara El-Arifi's Signs 2 Six-Figure Deals for Her Debut Novel The Final Strife". brittlepaper.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
6. "BBC Radio 4 – Open Book, Madeleine Grey". BBC. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
7. "The best fantasy novels to read". Good Housekeeping. 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
8. Hackett, Laura (2024-04-29). "Why young women love book boxes — the craze shaking up publishing". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2024-04-29.
9. Wood, Heloise (2024-05-09). "TikTok unveils new partnership with National Literacy Trust". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
10. Bayley, Sian. "Borough Press pre-empts two literary historical novels by El-Arifi" The Bookseller , 16 October 2023
11. Shukla, Nils (2022-07-19). "Interview with Saara El-Arifi (The Final Strife)". The Fantasy Hive. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
12. "Saara El-Arifi | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
13. El-Arifi, Saara (2024-07-01). "Saara El-Arifi". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-07-10.