Ella Leya, US-residing Jewish musician and composer represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Book Contest with the book "The Orphan Sky".

Wales hosted the Eurovision Book Contest, a special project that was held between the dates of May 25- June 4 in partnership with “Hay Festival of Literature & Arts”. The only condition of the contest is that books should have been published since the first broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. The literary festival asked the public to submit their favourite fiction from any of the 37 countries that take part in the music competition each year.

Ella Leya has told that according to the decision of the judges, “The Orphan Sky” was included in the list of the selected books. “My book was chosen to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Book Contest. I was really impressed...”- told Ella Leya sharing her impressions.

The novel "The Orphan Sky" was published in 2015 based on real events that faced talented young pianist Leyla Badalbeyli during the Soviet regime. This book was translated by Javidan Aghayev into Azerbaijani under the name "Kimsəsiz səma". Etimad Bashkechid and Salam Sarvan are the editors of the book.

Ella Leya is a director of short feature film "Leyla's Violin".  The film was demonstrated at "Regent Street Cinema", one of the historical places of the English capital with the support of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora.

This film won “Angel” award at the Monaco Film Festival.

It should be noted that Ella Leya, an Azerbaijani-American composer, musician and writer, was born in Baku. She immigrated to the United States in 1990. Her masterpieces “The Secret Life of Women”, “Queen of the Night” and others have been used in various famous Hollywood films.

https://www.hayfestival.com/eurovision-book-contest/