Ibtisam Azem is a Palestinian short-story writer, novelist, and journalist. Her second novel, The Book of Disappearance (Sifr al-Ikhtifa), was translated into English by Sinan Antoon and published by Syracuse University Press in 2019. She lives in New York City.
Manal Deeb / Courtesy of the artist
A trip to the doctor leaves an unnecessary burden on a young girl.
I inherited the dark skin of the slim body I inhabit from my mother. Together with worr…