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Literary Voices of/for Palestine
23
items A variety of works written for the purpose of uplifting Palestinian dignity and/or storytelling. Quite coincidentally, I started this list before discovering it was Read Palestine Week, an initiative started by Publishers for Palestine.
Sections
6
Fiction
Graphic Novels
History
Memoir
Poetry
Politics
Fiction
A Palestinian woman living in NYC begins to spiral out of control.
The Coin: A Novel by Yasmin Zaher, Paperback
A stage actress returns from London to her Palestinian homeland. She finds herself part of a Hamlet production in the West Bank, feeling both at home here while also holding complicated feelings.
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, Paperback
A novella about a Palestinian woman who becomes obsessed with a death from decades ago—that of a woman brutally killed by Israeli soldiers.
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, Paperback
Mother of Strangers: A Novel - Suad Amiry
In this debut novel, a Palestinian family is torn from their roots during the 1967 Six-Day War. Over generations, the family scatters across the globe. Published in 2017.
Salt Houses by Hala Alyan, Paperback
Quite readable novel about a wife and mother who begins to wonder if she is under a family curse after being put on probation at the university she teaches at. About family, purpose, and the balance between tradition and autonomy.
Evil Eye: A Novel by Etaf Rum, Paperback
Graphic Novels
A djinn helps Muslim American Nayra navigate a strict family, bullying, and friendship troubles. Written by a nonbinary author.
Nayra and the Djinn - Iasmin Omar Ata
History
Published in 2017 so is obviously missing a lot of recent tragedies enacted against Palestine. This book focuses on six “turning points,” or declarations of war, against Palestine.
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and ...
Published this year by UN special rapporteur.
A Moon Will Rise from the Darkness Reports on Israel's Genocide ...
Published in 1979 by the renowned Palestinian scholar, Edward Said. This landmark work was the first to really challenge Israeli occupation, at least on a meaningful level.
The Question of Palestine by Edward W. Said, Paperback
This 2006 book discusses the 1948 Nakba—the harm it caused Palestinians and how it’s not taken as seriously as it should be.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe, Paperback
Talks about how for decades, Israel has used Palestine as a guinea pig to develop invasive and harmful technologies.
The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation ...
Memoir
Sabawi tells her parents’ story of being forced to leave Palestine for Australia.
Cactus Pear For My Beloved: A Family Story from Gaza by Samah Sabawi
Author’s anorexia and subsequent near-death leads to ghostly dreams of both personal and generational trauma of her Palestinian family.
The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders by Sarah Aziza, Hardcover
Fire in Every Direction: A Memoir by Tareq Baconi, Hardcover
Poetry
Published in October of 2024—the product of sustained creativity even as thirtyish-year-old Toha was living through a brutal war. Toha was already known within Gaza for his poetry before the genocide began.
Forest of Noise: Poems by Mosab Abu Toha, Hardcover
A debut collection published in 2021. Speaks to the decades-long practice of removing Palestinians from their homeland—an experience El-Kurd and her family are familiar with.
Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd, Paperback
Politics
Most of the American left would agree that war is terrible from a humanitarian and environmental standpoint, that colonialism is bad. So, the authors ask, why is Palestine still such a controversial subject in many leftist circles? Hill and Plitnick ...
Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics
Journalist, activist, and novelist Kern draws from their own life as well as historical and religious texts to paint the surprisingly controversial take that Israel does not deserve our support and tax dollars to
starve and bomb another country.
Genocide Bad: Notes on Palestine, Jewish History, and Collective ...
From an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist who now lives in Portland. Written in response to the genocide in Gaza. Was recently shortlisted for the National Book Award.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This|Hardcover
The iconic Angela Davis draws connections among different struggles for liberty and dignity from power structures all over the world. We’re not free until everyone is free. Her words are joined by Dr. Cornel West, activist for racial justice, and Fra...
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the ...
A book more broadly about the biases and distortions present in the stories we tell. There are three sections of the book, each taking place in a different place (Senegal; Columbia, SC; Palestine) as he explores the harmful myths we tell ourselves.
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hardcover
Published in 2020 by Stanford University Press, but perhaps feels most relevant to the last couple years, as (erroneous) statements that supporting Palestine and supporting queer people are contradictory. Atshan demonstrates this is not the case thro...
Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique by Sa'ed Atshan, Paperback