The Writer’s Center presents a FREE virtual chat about the craft of fiction! We’re joined by author Eman Quotah for a discussion of her new novel, The Night Is Not for You. Eman is in conversation with Amy Freeman, author and Development Director at The Writer’s Center.

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Eman Quotah is the author of Bride of the Sea, winner of the Arab American Book Award for Fiction, and The Night Is Not for You, a novel forthcoming in October 2025. Her essays and stories have appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, Literary Hub, and other publications.

When she’s not writing fiction or essays, Eman is a communications consultant and ghost writer for nonprofit and business leaders. She’s also a board member of RAWI, which represents writers of Southwest Asian and North African heritage. She lives with her family near Washington, D.C.

About the Book

“Wildfire, an imprint of Headline, has snared The Night Is Not For You, a ‘hauntingly dark coming-of-age story’ by Eman Quotah. Senior commissioning editor Areen Ali acquired world all-language rights from Steven Chudney at The Chudney Agency. North American rights sold to Orbit US, which will publish simultaneously with Wildfire on 7th October 2025.

Inspired by folk myths of a jinn known as Umm Al-Duwais, Quotah’s horror novel follows Layla, who grows up in a neighbourhood where men are continually murdered.

The synopsis reads: ‘As years go by and more men are found murdered, rumours fly of supposed hoofprints and a woman with hair like black silk. Ambiguous messages left in lipstick and the sweet smell of perfume at the murder sites cause the finger of blame to point towards women and parents to keep their children closer. Meanwhile, Layla grows into the kind of woman she has always dreamt of becoming: A woman with sharp instincts. A woman who cannot be tamed.’

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