Read Palestine Week: Six Books by Palestinian Authors

Read Palestine Week was established in 2023 to highlight Palestinian literature, history and culture. Events and reading recommendations can be found on the Publishers for Palestine website. The following titles are a small sample of books by Palestinian authors available in WashU Libraries.

Forest of Noise: Poems by Mosab Abu Toha

The poet Mosab Abu Toha established the first English language library in Gaza. He and his family escaped through the Rafah border after their building, and the library, were destroyed. In this newly published poetry collection, he speaks to generational trauma, outlining his genealogy with both grief and hope.

Thyme Travellers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction, edited by Sonia Sulaiman

This new anthology of speculative fiction by Palestinian writers features a wide range of themes and blurred genres. Look out for space travel, alternative history, magical realism, artificial intelligence, and local writer and scholar Layla Azmi Goushey.

Country of Words: A Transnational Atlas for Palestinian Literature by Refqa Abu-Remaileh

In this scholarly work, Refqa Abu-Remaileh traces literary conversations across Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora through network analysis of literary journals 1880-1994. In compiling publications from Europe, North America, Latin America, and Arab countries, Abu-Remaileh finds the shape of a “country” across borders and exile.

Tolerance Is a Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial by Saree Makdisi

Saree Makdisi recently presented his thesis on the culture of denial at WashU, identifying two methods of denial: one of disregard of facts, and one of displaced focus on narratives of redemption. Makdisi’s work asks the reader to examine how emotional investment impacts perception.

Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life by Sayed Kashua

WashU alumnus Sayed Kashua wrote a regular column in Israeli newspaper Haaretz and an award-winning sitcom before immigrating with his family to the US. This book compiles autobiographical pieces from the column that illustrate the compounding stress of his rising celebrity status as a Palestinian citizen of Israel.

Never in a Hurry: Essays on People and Places by Naomi Shihab Nye

Palestinian American poet Naomi Shihab Nye begins this collection of essays in a section called “Gateway to the West,” with reflections from her childhood in St. Louis. A self-described “wandering poet,” Nye reflects on the human experience and interactions with strangers on her travels.