Photo © by Yousef Khanfar
Terrifying, that ringing of the phone
then that voice, insistent, sad
“Send your aid eastward
all your uncles are now refugees”
I sighed deeply, ached for them
Then I se…
COVER FEATURE
Palestine Voices
We created the Palestinian Kufiyah to be your symbol of elegance and flames of resistance. We centered it with Net of the Sea, To remind you of staying one united, strong nation.…
Photo © by Yousef Khanfar For over 850 years, two Palestinian Muslim families have been entrusted with the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the holiest shrine for Christianity.…
The Dome of the Rock in Al-Quds / Photo © by Yousef Khanfar I suffocate in my remorse, for I have betrayed you Against my own will. My apology is overdue. Your wounded eyes mourn tears from the opp…
When we asked Yousef Khanfar, executive editor of the “Palestine Voices” special issue, to come up with a list of essential titles about Palestine, he shared with us the following curation of thi…
Photo © by Yousef Khanfar In the age of globalization, Western social theories, particularly those articulating the concept of feminism, seem to have taken over the world. Today the women’s movement…
Photo © by Yousef Khanfar In her debut novel, You Exist Too Much, newly released in paperback, Zaina Arafat’s narrator portrays the fantasies and desires of a young woman caught between…
Sliman Mansour, The Village Awakens – Sahwit Al Kareh / Courtesy of the artist Author’s note: Over the last two decades, whenever I have returned to Palestine, there has been considerable change.…
Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash Let me be brief: by the end of this, someone will be cursed & I pray it anyone but Him. Let me start again: the night was beautiful but not romantic. S…
Reem Khader, Faces Offshoot / Courtesy of the artist In her novel Minor Detail, Palestinian author Adania Shibli sculpts—with trenchant words—a fragile memorial for a Bedouin gi…
Maher Naji, Christ Has Not Yet Descended from the Cross / Courtesy of the artist Years and years ago, I was small, very small. I was one of the children of the world who were born and thos…
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…
Asma Ghanem / Courtesy of the artist Hunger strike, fortieth day* Your bodies flutter on the ceiling of the room I can see your slow gestures the small bones in the joints of your hands y…
Dana Barqawi, Woman Digging Thorns out of Field / Courtesy of the Artist In the following voyage of self-discovery and reflection on humanity—excerpted from a forthcoming book—the author…
Mohamed Masri / Courtesy of the artist I Write the Land I want to write the land, I want the words to be the land itself. But I’m just a statue the Romans carved and the Arabs forgot. Colonizers…
Hiba Yassine / Courtesy of the artist In the following parable, a young boy discovers that he is a king. 1 I never thought I’d become a king at the age of thirteen. It was a…
Motaz Azaiza / Courtesy of the artist My Sixteen-Year-Old Mother What is my eightysomething mother doing under these conditions? She watches the situation behind the glass Once the rain stops, she…
Laila Shawa, Handala / Courtesy of the artist Seventy years of Palestinian fragmentation since Israel’s creation have taken their toll. The Palestinians of today are split into different…
Reem Khader, and she prevails / Courtesy of the artist (Everything here is reported by the young man who found the bottle.) This small light-emitting machine is currently still deco…
Rawan Anani / Courtesy of the artist A Palestinian-American writer reflects on pieces of Palestinian culture—embroidery, food, dance, a cartoon character—and how they help restore to her a deep a…
No portrait of Palestine is complete without an understanding of its cuisine. Here, British Palestinian chef Joudie Kalla introduces two classic dishes. Mussakhan – Auntie Lamia’s…
Khair Alah Salim / Courtesy of the artist Scene 1 – Operation Sperm in Womb Think of her As they loosen your chains As they lower you down As the soles of your feet Touch the bloodstained ground…
The nuns teach us Quran, or rather they teach us how to read with fire at the heels of our feet. I behold daybreak, my father lively with god. He is good and so I am good. On Fridays I pop up from…
Manal Deeb / Courtesy of the artist A salt swing, and its story, connects a young woman to her grandmother—and more. The salt that lay on Grandmother’s lips, and the grief of the story in th…
Maher Naji, Palestinian Girl in Jerusalem Dress / Courtesy of the artist I’ve been thinking about literary imprints lately, and how difficult it is to discern the books of one house from…
Summer 2021
The expanded Summer 2021 issue of World Literature Today foregrounds Palestine Voices in a cover feature showcasing 30 of the most prominent poets and writers from the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the diaspora, guest-edited by Yousef Khanfar + poetry & fiction from Hong Kong, Hungary, and South Korea. At 128 pages, the issue is bursting at the seams with the best poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, and book reviews from all over the world!