Palestine Festival of Literature
@palfest.bsky.social
To All Those We Are Indebted To - a four book series in Arabic & English, each arranged around a dialogue between two critical thinkers.
First in the series, 'the light through the shards', showcased here.
We are so pleased to be working with Bilnaes Books to help distribute these -
First in the series, 'the light through the shards', showcased here.
We are so pleased to be working with Bilnaes Books to help distribute these -
November 27, 2025 at 9:32 PM
To All Those We Are Indebted To - a four book series in Arabic & English, each arranged around a dialogue between two critical thinkers.
First in the series, 'the light through the shards', showcased here.
We are so pleased to be working with Bilnaes Books to help distribute these -
First in the series, 'the light through the shards', showcased here.
We are so pleased to be working with Bilnaes Books to help distribute these -
What is the point of writing in the midst of genocide?
In episode 4 of the PalFest Podcast, Tareq Baconi and Ta-Nehisi Coates consider this and other questions animated by Baconi's new memoir FIRE IN EVERY DIRECTION.
Listen at: www.palfest.org/podcast
In episode 4 of the PalFest Podcast, Tareq Baconi and Ta-Nehisi Coates consider this and other questions animated by Baconi's new memoir FIRE IN EVERY DIRECTION.
Listen at: www.palfest.org/podcast
November 26, 2025 at 4:31 PM
What is the point of writing in the midst of genocide?
In episode 4 of the PalFest Podcast, Tareq Baconi and Ta-Nehisi Coates consider this and other questions animated by Baconi's new memoir FIRE IN EVERY DIRECTION.
Listen at: www.palfest.org/podcast
In episode 4 of the PalFest Podcast, Tareq Baconi and Ta-Nehisi Coates consider this and other questions animated by Baconi's new memoir FIRE IN EVERY DIRECTION.
Listen at: www.palfest.org/podcast
Episode 3 of the PalFest Podcast is out! Esteemed professor and writer Laleh Khalili is in conversation with the authors of Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine; Adam Hanieh, Robert Knox & Rafeef Ziadah. Listen at: www.palfest.org/podcast
November 21, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Episode 3 of the PalFest Podcast is out! Esteemed professor and writer Laleh Khalili is in conversation with the authors of Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine; Adam Hanieh, Robert Knox & Rafeef Ziadah. Listen at: www.palfest.org/podcast
Fahed Shehab writes "To be Thin in a Time of War - No Need to Worry," offering a profound and harrowing exploration of the catastrophic situation in Gaza amidst the genocide. Read the entire piece for a powerful commentary on the intersection of physical suffering and emotional despair in Gaza.
November 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Fahed Shehab writes "To be Thin in a Time of War - No Need to Worry," offering a profound and harrowing exploration of the catastrophic situation in Gaza amidst the genocide. Read the entire piece for a powerful commentary on the intersection of physical suffering and emotional despair in Gaza.
"Farther Now Than Ever Before" is a poignant poem by Palestinian poet Maryam Al-Khateeb from Gaza, translated by Wiam El-Tamami (availavle on our website). This emphatic work delves into themes of displacement, memory, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of evacuation amidst genocide.
October 29, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"Farther Now Than Ever Before" is a poignant poem by Palestinian poet Maryam Al-Khateeb from Gaza, translated by Wiam El-Tamami (availavle on our website). This emphatic work delves into themes of displacement, memory, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of evacuation amidst genocide.
In the weeks following the ceasefire of January 2025, which lasted 42 days, Mohammed Mhawish spoke with people in Gaza to record their stories in the moments, hours, and days after it was announced.
From Mohammed Mhawish’s “After the Ceasefire” in 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. palfest/bookshelf
From Mohammed Mhawish’s “After the Ceasefire” in 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. palfest/bookshelf
October 20, 2025 at 8:00 AM
In the weeks following the ceasefire of January 2025, which lasted 42 days, Mohammed Mhawish spoke with people in Gaza to record their stories in the moments, hours, and days after it was announced.
From Mohammed Mhawish’s “After the Ceasefire” in 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. palfest/bookshelf
From Mohammed Mhawish’s “After the Ceasefire” in 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. palfest/bookshelf
London, join us on November 1st for a unique conversation between novelists Isabella Hammad and Mirza Waheed on Palestine & Kashmir.
www.palfest.org/full-schedul...
www.palfest.org/full-schedul...
October 19, 2025 at 11:14 PM
London, join us on November 1st for a unique conversation between novelists Isabella Hammad and Mirza Waheed on Palestine & Kashmir.
www.palfest.org/full-schedul...
www.palfest.org/full-schedul...
This month, for Bookshelf subscribers outside of the US, we’re glad to include as an additional extra Mahmoud Al-Shaer’s 𝘈 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘺𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦, which collects the entries from his fundraising campaign www.gofundme.com/f/aid-for-ma...
Subscribe @ palfest.org/bookshelf
Subscribe @ palfest.org/bookshelf
October 15, 2025 at 8:00 AM
This month, for Bookshelf subscribers outside of the US, we’re glad to include as an additional extra Mahmoud Al-Shaer’s 𝘈 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘺𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦, which collects the entries from his fundraising campaign www.gofundme.com/f/aid-for-ma...
Subscribe @ palfest.org/bookshelf
Subscribe @ palfest.org/bookshelf
By popular demand: gift subscriptions to the PalFest Bookshelf are now available! Want to send your loved one a subscription? All you need is their email address and country of residence – we ship worldwide. Check the PalFest Bookshelf on our website for more information (www.palfest.org)
September 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
By popular demand: gift subscriptions to the PalFest Bookshelf are now available! Want to send your loved one a subscription? All you need is their email address and country of residence – we ship worldwide. Check the PalFest Bookshelf on our website for more information (www.palfest.org)
New York - a major collection of writers are coming together this Saturday September 21 for VOICES FOR GAZA at the Town Hall.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Mosab Abu Toha, Hala Alyan, Hannah Lillith Assadi and Seema Jilani will all be in conversation with John Freeman, featuring Aasif Mandvi.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Mosab Abu Toha, Hala Alyan, Hannah Lillith Assadi and Seema Jilani will all be in conversation with John Freeman, featuring Aasif Mandvi.
September 17, 2025 at 12:58 PM
New York - a major collection of writers are coming together this Saturday September 21 for VOICES FOR GAZA at the Town Hall.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Mosab Abu Toha, Hala Alyan, Hannah Lillith Assadi and Seema Jilani will all be in conversation with John Freeman, featuring Aasif Mandvi.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Mosab Abu Toha, Hala Alyan, Hannah Lillith Assadi and Seema Jilani will all be in conversation with John Freeman, featuring Aasif Mandvi.
Book of the Week: After Savagery
Written during a genocide, After Savagery reveals the ethical bankruptcy of “Western philosophy” and how it undergirds the erasure of the colonized.
After Savagery publishes later this month. You can preorder the book in our Bookshop (US / UK). Links are below.
Written during a genocide, After Savagery reveals the ethical bankruptcy of “Western philosophy” and how it undergirds the erasure of the colonized.
After Savagery publishes later this month. You can preorder the book in our Bookshop (US / UK). Links are below.
September 15, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Book of the Week: After Savagery
Written during a genocide, After Savagery reveals the ethical bankruptcy of “Western philosophy” and how it undergirds the erasure of the colonized.
After Savagery publishes later this month. You can preorder the book in our Bookshop (US / UK). Links are below.
Written during a genocide, After Savagery reveals the ethical bankruptcy of “Western philosophy” and how it undergirds the erasure of the colonized.
After Savagery publishes later this month. You can preorder the book in our Bookshop (US / UK). Links are below.
Watch now: Eileen Myles reads 38kg, by Batool Abu Akleen.
You can get the book from the PalFest Bookshelf, subscribe here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
You can get the book from the PalFest Bookshelf, subscribe here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
September 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Watch now: Eileen Myles reads 38kg, by Batool Abu Akleen.
You can get the book from the PalFest Bookshelf, subscribe here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
You can get the book from the PalFest Bookshelf, subscribe here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
Max Porter called 48kg "one of the most viscerally affecting collections of poems I have ever read ... No human should have to write their poetry from inside death's dominion, but Batool Abu Akleen has done it and the result is truly astonishing."
48kg is available on the PalFest Bookshelf.
48kg is available on the PalFest Bookshelf.
August 26, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Max Porter called 48kg "one of the most viscerally affecting collections of poems I have ever read ... No human should have to write their poetry from inside death's dominion, but Batool Abu Akleen has done it and the result is truly astonishing."
48kg is available on the PalFest Bookshelf.
48kg is available on the PalFest Bookshelf.
Batool Abu Akleen is a Palestinian poet and translator from Gaza City. This poem is from her debut poetry collection, 48kg, just published by Tenement Press and currently on the PalFest Bookshelf.
Max Porter called 48kg "one of the most viscerally affecting collections of poems I have ever read."
Max Porter called 48kg "one of the most viscerally affecting collections of poems I have ever read."
August 18, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Batool Abu Akleen is a Palestinian poet and translator from Gaza City. This poem is from her debut poetry collection, 48kg, just published by Tenement Press and currently on the PalFest Bookshelf.
Max Porter called 48kg "one of the most viscerally affecting collections of poems I have ever read."
Max Porter called 48kg "one of the most viscerally affecting collections of poems I have ever read."
On the PalFest Bookshelf for August & September are two short, powerful books.
48kg is the debut poetry collection from Batool Abu Akleen.
Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine by Adam Hanieh, Rob Knox & Rafeef Ziadah.
Learn more & sign up here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
48kg is the debut poetry collection from Batool Abu Akleen.
Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine by Adam Hanieh, Rob Knox & Rafeef Ziadah.
Learn more & sign up here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
August 15, 2025 at 6:19 PM
On the PalFest Bookshelf for August & September are two short, powerful books.
48kg is the debut poetry collection from Batool Abu Akleen.
Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine by Adam Hanieh, Rob Knox & Rafeef Ziadah.
Learn more & sign up here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
48kg is the debut poetry collection from Batool Abu Akleen.
Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine by Adam Hanieh, Rob Knox & Rafeef Ziadah.
Learn more & sign up here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
palfest This week's book of the week is WE HAD MANSIONS, a luminous and unflinching debut by queer Palestinian Appalachian poet and journalist Mandy Shunnarah, published last month by @diodeeditions.bsky.social.
Get your copy of WE HAD MANSIONS from the good folks at Diode Editions.
Get your copy of WE HAD MANSIONS from the good folks at Diode Editions.
August 13, 2025 at 1:26 PM
palfest This week's book of the week is WE HAD MANSIONS, a luminous and unflinching debut by queer Palestinian Appalachian poet and journalist Mandy Shunnarah, published last month by @diodeeditions.bsky.social.
Get your copy of WE HAD MANSIONS from the good folks at Diode Editions.
Get your copy of WE HAD MANSIONS from the good folks at Diode Editions.
This week's Book of the Week is ROCK FLIGHT by Hasib Hourani, a book-length poem that follows a personal and historical narrative impelled by the violent occupation of Palestine.
Hasib Hourani’s rock flight is out now. You can get your copy on our Bookshop (US / UK).
Links in replies.
Hasib Hourani’s rock flight is out now. You can get your copy on our Bookshop (US / UK).
Links in replies.
August 6, 2025 at 10:08 AM
This week's Book of the Week is ROCK FLIGHT by Hasib Hourani, a book-length poem that follows a personal and historical narrative impelled by the violent occupation of Palestine.
Hasib Hourani’s rock flight is out now. You can get your copy on our Bookshop (US / UK).
Links in replies.
Hasib Hourani’s rock flight is out now. You can get your copy on our Bookshop (US / UK).
Links in replies.
This week's Book of the Week is Ghayath Almadhoun's I HAVE BROUGHT YOU A SEVERED HAND, translated by Catherine Cobham and published by @actionbooks.bsky.social (US) and Divided Publishing (UK).
July 24, 2025 at 3:44 PM
This week's Book of the Week is Ghayath Almadhoun's I HAVE BROUGHT YOU A SEVERED HAND, translated by Catherine Cobham and published by @actionbooks.bsky.social (US) and Divided Publishing (UK).
Heaven Looks Like Us: Palestinian Poetry, has been longlisted for the 2025 Palestine Book Awards.
You can get it now from our PalFest Bookshelf, here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
You can get it now from our PalFest Bookshelf, here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
July 22, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Heaven Looks Like Us: Palestinian Poetry, has been longlisted for the 2025 Palestine Book Awards.
You can get it now from our PalFest Bookshelf, here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
You can get it now from our PalFest Bookshelf, here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf
Book of the week: I'll Tell You When I'm Home.
The rich and deeply personal debut memoir by award-winning Palestinian American poet and novelist Hala Alyan, whose experience of motherhood via surrogacy forces her to reckon with her own past, and the legacy of her family’s exile and displacement.
The rich and deeply personal debut memoir by award-winning Palestinian American poet and novelist Hala Alyan, whose experience of motherhood via surrogacy forces her to reckon with her own past, and the legacy of her family’s exile and displacement.
July 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Book of the week: I'll Tell You When I'm Home.
The rich and deeply personal debut memoir by award-winning Palestinian American poet and novelist Hala Alyan, whose experience of motherhood via surrogacy forces her to reckon with her own past, and the legacy of her family’s exile and displacement.
The rich and deeply personal debut memoir by award-winning Palestinian American poet and novelist Hala Alyan, whose experience of motherhood via surrogacy forces her to reckon with her own past, and the legacy of her family’s exile and displacement.
Poppy Liu reads “A poem joins the resistance” from the new anthology of Palestinian poetry, Heaven Looks Like Us - the book on the PalFest Bookshelf. Get your copy, along with the healthcare issue of the New York War Crimes newspaper, by subscribing at palfest.org/bookshelf before the end of July.
July 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Poppy Liu reads “A poem joins the resistance” from the new anthology of Palestinian poetry, Heaven Looks Like Us - the book on the PalFest Bookshelf. Get your copy, along with the healthcare issue of the New York War Crimes newspaper, by subscribing at palfest.org/bookshelf before the end of July.
Heaven Looks Like Us is a Palestinian poetry anthology addressing exile, violence, and grief, but also showcasing queer, feminist, eco-poetic, and love-themed works alongside protest poetry.
Get it from PalFest Bookshelf here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?ss...
Get it from PalFest Bookshelf here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?ss...
June 23, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Heaven Looks Like Us is a Palestinian poetry anthology addressing exile, violence, and grief, but also showcasing queer, feminist, eco-poetic, and love-themed works alongside protest poetry.
Get it from PalFest Bookshelf here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?ss...
Get it from PalFest Bookshelf here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?ss...
It's our honour to present a new poem by Hassan Al-Bawwab - who under the most difficult possible circumstances in Gaza has continued to produce new work.
Read the poem on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/p/DKuEQacIQh...
Read the poem on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/p/DKuEQacIQh...
June 10, 2025 at 2:33 PM
It's our honour to present a new poem by Hassan Al-Bawwab - who under the most difficult possible circumstances in Gaza has continued to produce new work.
Read the poem on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/p/DKuEQacIQh...
Read the poem on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/p/DKuEQacIQh...
When speaking more than one language becomes a means of navigation, how are linguistic hierarchies shaped by power dynamics? How does embodying them reshape our understanding of frontiers and displacement?
London: Language: No Broblem, 13-17 June
Learn more here: www.shubbak.co.uk/language-no-...
London: Language: No Broblem, 13-17 June
Learn more here: www.shubbak.co.uk/language-no-...
June 9, 2025 at 1:08 PM
When speaking more than one language becomes a means of navigation, how are linguistic hierarchies shaped by power dynamics? How does embodying them reshape our understanding of frontiers and displacement?
London: Language: No Broblem, 13-17 June
Learn more here: www.shubbak.co.uk/language-no-...
London: Language: No Broblem, 13-17 June
Learn more here: www.shubbak.co.uk/language-no-...
We are excited to share the third instalment of the PalFest Bookshelf: Heaven Looks Like Us, edited by George Abraham and Noor Hindi, published by Haymarket Books.
Learn more here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?fb...
Learn more here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?fb...
June 2, 2025 at 8:08 AM
We are excited to share the third instalment of the PalFest Bookshelf: Heaven Looks Like Us, edited by George Abraham and Noor Hindi, published by Haymarket Books.
Learn more here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?fb...
Learn more here: www.palfest.org/bookshelf?fb...