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A Palestine Reading List

A Collection of Writing from Palestine and across the Diaspora

A bridge crossing the moat and participant figures, and parts of such, in a parade, some with colors,...

"Parade Entering the City, Jaffa," by Frederic Edwin Church. Used according to a Creative Commons license via the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Following the events of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Words Without Borders brings you work by Palestinian writers we have published through the years, as well as writing about Palestine. This is but one step toward providing a broader and enduring platform for Palestinian writers. Beginning January 2024, Words Without Borders will embark on an ongoing series focused on work by Palestinian writers across the globe, working in many languages, in collaboration with poet, essayist, and translator Lena Khalaf Tuffaha.

A black-and-white portrait of Mosab Abu Toha

The City and the Writer: In Gaza with Mosab Abu Toha

By Nathalie Handal

“Gaza is the soil where the tree of my consciousness and enlightenment has grown.”

Curved asphalt road on a foggy day in Lebanon

Photo by Dorsa Masghati on Unsplash

A Child’s Smile

After a dozen or so bombings, Jahid, like my mother had before him, decided we would flee.

Translated from French by Lara Vergnaud

Multilingual

Arabic script for Samt which translates as silence in English

Silence

By Adania Shibli

“Her narrative voice resonates with the inner geographies of the Palestinian space.”—Anton Shammas

Translated from Arabic by Randa Jarrar

A nitrate negative of Gaza

"Gaza. (Ghuzze). Section near the mosque" by American Colony in LOC.

Afterwords

By Sinan Antoon

After our house in Jabalia was destroyed we hid in the UNRWA school. But the bombs followed us there too . . .

Translated from Arabic by the author

Multimedia

still-life-scenes-in-gaza-time-atef-abu-saif-image-gaza-seaport-feature

Obaida alnakhala, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Still Life: Scenes in Gaza Time

By Atef Abu Saif

“He discovered suddenly that Gaza had a sea—a big sea too.”

Translated from Arabic by William Maynard Hutchins

A picture of several palm trees with coconuts on a windy day

Photo by Thomas Lefebvre on Unsplash

House Work

By Mahmoud Darwish

We are rescued here the way dust is rescued / from the river.

Translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah

A Map of Jerusalem

By Sousan Hammad

Memory—they tell me—has no translation.

The Tragedy of Narcissus The Comedy of Silver

By Mahmoud Darwish

They returned…

Translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah

Jameel Bouthaina, and I

By Mahmoud Darwish

She grows old, my friend, outside the heart / in others’ eyes.

Translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah

The Poem as Epiphyte

Hope in the right place, you said, is hope misplaced

Life in Mount Carmel

By Najwan Darwish

Their poems reach me from their temple

Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal

Long Distance

By Rodrigo Hasbún

“You’re not going to fool around with your friend’s girlfriend.”

Translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes

Multilingual

Nora in Wonderland

By Hassan Khader

“Like many Arab novelists and poets, he has turned to the essay.”—Ahdaf Soueif

Translated from Arabic by the author

Solitary Confinement on the Seventh Floor

By Mazen Maarouf

One day / I’ll tear off my lips / and eat them / like candy.

Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal

A Stray Bullet

By Mazen Maarouf

a stray bullet / veered slightly off course

Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal

Multilingual

Downtown

By Mazen Maarouf

I roll my pierced heart / across the bedcover

Translated from Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid & Nathalie Handal

Multilingual

Image of a coiled brown boa constrictor

Photo by Jan Kopřiva on Unsplash

Between Sky & Earth

By Olivia Elias

if we collected all the tears / would it wash away the soot / resurrect the dead.

Translated from French by Jérémy Victor Robert

Multilingual