This is the first book that studies 16 Arabic novels of speculative fiction, introducing 11 of which that have not been translated in English before. This is the first book in English that analyzes the work of three women authors of speculative fiction novels. This book pioneers the use of the term Arabic cyberpunk fiction, which has normally been associated with Western literature. This book covers authors from seven Arab countries, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Syria, and Tunisia. Some countries included here are usually under-represented in studies of Arabic literature in English, such as Mauritania. This book is part of a larger project by the author to formulate new poetics of literary theory for Arabic fiction. He has published two books already in this project (one by Routledge). In this book he uses a social and psychological theoretical framework. This is the first book in English focusing on Arabic speculative fiction and dystopian fiction, not just science fiction, and predicts a new turn in the Arabic novel. This book is one of the few studies in English to refer to dissertations in Arabic academia among its references, thus pointing out the rising interest in Arabic speculative fiction in Arab countries.

Cultural Identity in Arabic Novels of Immigration: A Poetics of Return offers a new perspective of migration studies that views the concept of migration in Arabic as inherently embracing the notion of return. Starting the study with the significance of the Islamic hijra as the quintessential migrant narrative in Arabic culture, Elmeligi offers readings of Arabic narratives as early as Ibn Tufayl's Hayy ibn Yaqzan and as recent as Miral Al-Tahawy's 2010 Brooklyn Heights, and as varied as Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz's short story adaptation of the ancient Egyptian Tale of Sinuhe and Yemeni novelist Mohammed Abdl Wali's They Die Strangers, including novels that have not been translated in English before, such as Sonallah Ibrahim's Amrikanli and Suhayl Idris' The Latin Quarter. To contextualize these narratives, Elmeligi employs studies of cultural identity and their features that are most impacted by migration. In this study, Elmeligi analyzes the different manifestations of return, whether physical or psychological, commenting not only on the decisions that the characters take in the novels, but also the narrative choices that the writers make, thus viewing narrativity as a form of performativity of cultural identity as well. The book addresses fresh angles of migration studies, identity theory, and Arabic literary analysis that are of interest to scholars and students.

This is a compilation of poetry written by Arabic women poets from pre-Islamic times to the end of the Abbasid caliphate and Andalusia, and offers translations of over 200 poets together with literary commentary on the poets and their poetry. This critical anthology presents the poems of more than 200 Arabic women poets active from the 600s through the 1400s CE. It marks the first appearance in English translation for many of these poems. The volume includes biographical information about the poets, as well as an analysis of the development of women's poetry in classical Arabic literature that places the women and the poems within their cultural context. The book fills a noticeable void in modern English-language scholarship on Arabic women, and has important implications for the fields of world and Arabic literature as well as gender and women's studies. The book will be a fascinating and vital text for students and researchers in the fields of Gender Studies and Middle Eastern studies, as well as scholars and students of translation studies, comparative literature, literary theory, gender studies, Arabic literature, and culture and classics.