Books
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Reflective memoir - 2026
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A short book about meaning, choice, and the miracles we create ourselves. Through personal stories from her own life, Leyli Salayeva reflects on how ordinary moments can become turning points, revealing unexpected strength and new directions. Rather than dwelling on wounds, this book invites readers to recognize their resilience, rediscover the power of their choices, and see their own lives through a lens of possibility.
Поэт Ночи Poetry Book – 2025
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A collection of poetry that marks a decade of Leyli Salayeva's official literary journey. The book explores themes of introspection, identity, and transformation, blending lyrical poetry with short stories. Drawing inspiration from the moments of stillness and contemplation, particularly during the COVID-19 quarantine, it reflects on the importance of breath and existence. The title itself is a reference to the author's name and evokes the mystique of nighttime, where poetry and self-discovery converge.
57 Портретов Poetry Book – 2022
This book is a complete work, consisting of 57 portraits of contemporaries in poetic form. It is a gallery of psych types, a map of all those souls that lived and breathed air with me in the same period of history. This book is about what lies behind the appearance, behind the material shell of a person. This book is for deep reflection on the most important thing for each of us - who is a person? And what is human?
This book can serve as a guide and source of inspiration on how to cross the technique of painting a portrait among artists and poets.
https://garagemca.org/programs/library/catalogue/L48568
Затылок Poetry Book – 2020
In this book, poems are divided into thoughts and obsessions. The nape has an erotic meaning in Japanese culture. Remember the very breathing on the back of your head, your feelings, and your obsessions. But the back of the head is also part of the firearm. You can shoot with words, can't you?
While the book was being prepared for publication, quarantine began, during which a fairly large number of poems were written. They are included in the book under a separate section called Kafkir. The book also features a rap ballad and a trilogy about the heart and the brain.
https://www.baku-media.ru/publications/kultura/literatura/kniga-leyli-salaevoy-krasnorechivoe-molchanie/
Unbrushed Senses Artistic Book - 2020
Unbrushed Senses are the ones that are not stigmatized or stereotyped, being born in their unblended colours. This collection of poems and drawings illustrates the raw and untamed feelings that are left unsorted. Initially presented as an online exhibition for Ta(r)dino 6 Art Platform, Unbrushed Senses is the second collaboration between poet Leyli Salayeva, artist Xenia Fink, and curator Asli Samadova. As our hunger for touch increased due to social distancing, this project transitioned from a digital and ephemeral form into a physical realm. The book featured at the Tokyo Art Book Fair in 2021.
Анабиоз Poetry Book – 2018
The title “Anabioz” comes from the concept of the compilation, where the names of the poems are replaced with the calculus of the dreams. Each dream consists of one or more continuous poems. The boundaries between sleep and reality are often erased, and the brain becomes confused. Everything that is written in the book may be a reality, or maybe a dream. There are people who live their day in sleep. The main theme of the poems is a painful and faithful love of beauty.
https://lady.day.az/news/culture/1057118.html https://news.day.az/culture/1057089.html
Youtopia Poetry Book – 2016 Honourable mention at the 2016 London Book Festival
The book is a poetry compilation directly inspired by conversations with seven women (a reference to Nizami Ganjavi’s Haft-Paykar poem aka. Seven Beauties). Leyli explores the nature of the female character, a matrix composed of individual portraits of existing personalities surrounding Leyli and fictional ones that the poet revives in her works. The book was written within one year and includes poems reflecting the different emotions and feelings that a woman can experience at her different stages of life and situations. The book’s aim is to help to understand a woman's nature, no matter how utopian this purpose might be.
https://1news.az/news/20160222041346648-Youtopia-vnutrennii-mir-zhenshciny-v-stikhakh-molodoi-azerbaidzhanskoi-poetessy-na-angliiskom-yazyke-FOTO
Dilber and Her Spoonful Journey Children's Book – 2015
Awarded: 2nd place in the XIII International Competition among The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Countries “Art of the book” The book is a result of Leyli’s decision as a mother to replace modern technologies, such as a television or an iPad, to entertain her baby girl Dilber during a meal ritual. Narrated in 2 languages, Azeri and English, Dilber and her spoonful journey invites a reader to travel with Dilber and her magic spoon around her hometown Baku. The book is also the first collaboration with Arif Huseynov*, a renowned artist whose flamboyant illustrations are easily recognized by Azerbaijan art connoisseurs. The book is the first in a series of children's publications “A child’s perception of the world through national elements”. This series of books is aimed at acquainting Azerbaijani children with their national cuisine, historical places and cities of Azerbaijan. *Arif Huseynov is Azerbaijan People’s Artist with 40 years of experience in book illustration. He has made illustrations for the works of Azerbaijan and foreign classic writers: Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Doctor Aybolit by Korney Chukovsky, etc. One of his significant works has been done for the book Azerbaijan Fairy Tales which includes 30 illustrations.
Twelve Thirteen Poetry Book - 2014
