The Illegal is a novel by Canadian writer Lawrence Hill.

[1] The novel's central character is Keita Ali, a marathon runner from the fictional Indian Ocean nation of Zantoroland.

The novel won the 2016 edition of Canada Reads, making Hill the first writer to win the competition twice.

[3] Prior to its publication, the novel was optioned for film treatment by Conquering Lion Pictures, the producers of the miniseries adaptation of Hill's prior novel The Book of Negroes.

[4] The French translation Le Sans-papiers, by Carole Noël and Marianne Noël-Allen, was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English to French translation at the 2017 Governor General's Awards.