# Is "Season of Migration to the North" by Tayeb Salih a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (Dar al-Awda, Beirut, 1966) is identified by: The Arabic true first, Mawsim al-hijra ila al-shamal, appeared first serially in the Beirut journal Hiwar (issues 5-6, September 1966) and then as a book from Dar al-Awda, Beirut, in 1966. Arabic original: journal Hiwar, Beirut, 1966, then Dar al-Awda, Beirut, 1966.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The Arabic true first, Mawsim al-hijra ila al-shamal, appeared first serially in the Beirut journal Hiwar (issues 5-6, September 1966) and then as a book from Dar al-Awda, Beirut, in 1966
- The first English edition is Season of Migration to the North, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies, Heinemann, London, in the African Writers Series (AWS no
- 66), 1969
- Heinemann issued it both as the standard limp AWS paperback (ISBN 0-435-90630-5, 169 pp) and as a scarcer cased hardback in black paper-covered boards with gilt spine titles in a pictorial dust jacket; the jacketed hardback is the collector's first
- Publisher imprint reads Dar al-Awda, Beirut
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Tayeb Salih |
| Publisher | Dar al-Awda, Beirut |
| Year | 1966 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The Arabic true first, Mawsim al-hijra ila al-shamal, appeared first serially in the Beirut journal Hiwar (issues 5-6, September 1966) and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The Arabic true first, Mawsim al-hijra ila al-shamal, appeared first serially in the Beirut journal Hiwar (issues 5-6, September 1966) and then as a book from Dar al-Awda, Beirut, in 1966. The first English edition is Season of Migration to the North, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies, Heinemann, London, in the African Writers Series (AWS no. 66), 1969. Heinemann issued it both as the standard limp AWS paperback (ISBN 0-435-90630-5, 169 pp) and as a scarcer cased hardback in black paper-covered boards with gilt spine titles in a pictorial dust jacket; the jacketed hardback is the collector's first.

## Is this the true first?
Arabic original: journal Hiwar, Beirut, 1966, then Dar al-Awda, Beirut, 1966. First English: Heinemann, London (African Writers Series 66), 1969 (Johnson-Davies) — UK only, with no simultaneous US edition. Later American printings (Three Continents/Lynne Rienner, 1980s; NYRB Classics, 2009) are reprints, so the London Heinemann 1969 is the true first in English.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
AWS reprints reuse the same series number/ISBN and are told apart by later printing lines and revised series-cover designs; all US editions postdate 1969. No book-club edition is a recognized issue point.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Season of Migration to the North* by Tayeb Salih a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/season-of-migration-to-the-north
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.