Ashraf Zaghal is a Palestinian Canadian poet and novelist who was born and raised in Jerusalem and now based in Ontario. He has published four collections of poetry in Arabic. Zaghal earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. in Water Resource Engineering from the University of Guelph.
Fiction
Seven Heavens Away: A Novel
Toronto: House of Anansi, 2026.
Forthcoming Feb. 2026
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
In this taut and heartbreaking debut novel, a Palestinian teenager comes of age amid escalating violence in Jerusalem. After their friend Hassan is killed by an Israeli, Aziz and Mustafa are shaken to their core, drawn into the orbit of Hassan’s father—a respected community leader known for his charity and fiery speeches—as they grapple with grief, guilt, and an uncertain future. As Aziz’s forbidden feelings for Dafna, a Jewish girl, deepen and his mother searches for a way to secure his safety, he’s forced to confront painful truths about loss, survival, and what it means to find hope amid the ruins.
Links
Publisher House of Anansi