Pontas is proud to be representing the foreign and audiovisual rights for Afghan-Dutch author Forugh Karimi’s In My Eyes I Carry Clouds (In mijn ogen draag ik wolken), originally written in Dutch and published by Nelleke Geel at Meridiaan Uitgevers, with total print run of 10.000 copies to date. The novel is on track to become the new literary sensation from Afghanistan.
Forugh Karimi is an author and psychiatrist who fled the war in Afghanistan and arrived in the Netherlands at age 25. In 2022, Karimi made her debut with the novel The Mothers of Mahipar — which won the Hebban Debut Prize — followed in 2023 by the novella Nargis, both published by Meridiaan Uitgevers. With her second novel, In My Eyes I Carry Clouds (In mijn ogen draag ik wolken) she once again demonstrates her unique contribution to the Dutch literary landscape.
Nearly 25 years after The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Karimi offers a new and necessary voice from within Afghanistan with this work of literary fiction exploring trauma, loss, silence, and the price of survival, which is intimate, morally complex, and based on a heartbreaking true story. Four years ago, when Afghanistan was handed back to the Taliban, a close friend of the author’s was captured and murdered, and there was nothing she could do to avoid it. In the novel, it is the protagonist, Widá, who carries immense grief from a past she has tried so hard to forget. She will embark on a road trip to Athens to fulfill an old promise and try to heal from a history that had been silenced within herself.
All translation rights are currently available. International editors can apply for translation grants from the Dutch Foundation for Literature. The grants can reimburse up to 70% of the translation costs.
You can watch a two-minute video of the author speaking about the book in English here:
The press and booksellers have said...
“Anyone who calls refugees “fortune seekers” should read this novel.” Mezza Book Panel
“In this second novel, Karimi manages to touch you deeply with her striking portrayal of the experiences in the diaspora and the psychological effects of trauma. Her love for Afghanistan also comes through in her words.” Het Parool
“Love, and love alone, flows from every page of this book.” De Limburger
“Karimi is a masterful storyteller.” Margot Osse, Bookshop De Omslag
“Her previous book was beautiful, but this one... It leaves me speechless.” Caroline Sprengers, Bookshop Stevens
For more information about the above title, please contact Anna Soler-Pont (anna@pontas-agency.com).