Purchase NO GOD BUT US Here

Most novelists don’t set out to write books that are inherently political, but with a worldwide crackdown on immigrants and refugees, and the continual instability in the Middle East, our current climate has made writing from the margins a transgressive act—a role that writer Bobuq Sayed assumes with pride. Their debut NO GOD BUT US tells the story of Delbar and Mansur, two queer men of the Afghan diaspora who—due to circumstances beyond their control—land in Istanbul: the dazzling, historic city straddling East and West. Told through alternating viewpoints, this is a story of borders and boundaries transgressed, and a seductive exploration of what it means to make a home at the outskirts of society.

When Delbar —a hapless twenty-something with dreams of becoming a drag queen—is spectacularly outed, he flees the immigrant-dense suburbs of Washington, DC to seek refuge with his sympathetic aunt in Istanbul. There, he discovers a vibrant community of dissidents, sex workers, and heretics. Among them are Leif and his boyfriend, Mansur, with whom Delbar develops a blazing fascination. But Mansur also nurses a wounded heart, having left his own family, and his first love, behind in Iran. This time, he’ll keep a low profile, work hard to send money back, and remain faithful to Leif—at least until his refugee status is granted.

When riot police descend on attendees of the annual Istanbul Pride march, Mansur and Delbar are thrust into dangerous proximity. With the country surging into authoritarianism, each person must ask themselves: What constitutes a well-lived life, and how high is the price of freedom?

Bobuq Sayed is the author of the novel NO GOD BUT US. A 2022–23 Steinbeck fellow at San José State University, a Lambda Literary scholar, and an award-winning James A. Michener fellow in the University of Miami’s MFA program, Sayed now lives in New York, New York. For more on Bobuq Sayed and their work, visit: https://bobuqsayed.com/