Kola Boof is a Sudanese-American novelist. She was born a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

Omdurman, Sudan Omdurman (standard ar, أم درمان ''Umm Durmān'') is a city in Sudan. It is the most populated city in the country, and thus also in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the ...

. As a child, she witnessed her parents' murder. She was adopted by African-Americans in Washington D.C. in 1979 and became an American citizen in 1993. She is the author of seven books, published in eight countries. Her birth name was Naima Bint Harith. She wrote "Kola Boof" first as a "two-word poem," but liked it so much that she adopted it as her penname for her literary career. The "Kola" part refers to the kola nut. She has alleged that she was forced in 1996 in Morocco by

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

to be his mistress, and that bin Laden raped her and controlled her, not letting her leave, for six months. She denied her association with bin Laden at first, but was outed by ''The Guardian''. In a 2006 interview, she said, "But once the United States became aware of it and placed me on a suspected terrorist list and threatened to take away my citizenship. I really didn't have any choice but to admit to it and to tell my side of what happened." Boof alleges that her first book, ''Long Train to the Redeeming Sin'', resulted in a fatwa being placed on her. Her other books include ''Diary of a Lost Girl'', her autobiography, and the novel ''The Sexy Part of the Bible''., which was praised by

Derrick Bell Derrick Albert Bell Jr. (November 6, 1930 – October 5, 2011) was an American lawyer, professor, and civil rights activist. Bell worked for first the U.S. Justice Department, then the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where he supervised over 300 schoo ...

, who said, "There hasn't been a book this original or this socially relevant for black people since Ellison's ''Invisible Man''." A number of her claims, as well as her personal history, have been debunked or put into question.

Works

Some selected works include: * ''Long Train to the Redeeming Sin'' (2004, Door of Kush) * ''Flesh and the Devil'' (2004, Door of Kush), * ''Diary of a Lost Girl'' (2006, Door of Kush), * ''The Sexy Part of the Bible'' (2011, Akashic Books), * ''Feminists Need Dick Too!'' (2021, Door of Kush)

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Sudanese women writers Sudanese emigrants to the United States People from Omdurman 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Sudanese novelists Sudanese women novelists 21st-century American women writers {{US-novelist-1960s-stub