Seeking Palestine

by Raja Shehadeh

First published 2023

Fifteen Palestinian voices gather to examine what home means when your homeland remains stateless and under siege. Writers including Lila Abu-Lughod, Susan Abulhawa, Mourid Barghouti, and Raja Shehadeh contribute essays, poems, memoirs, and criticism that wrestle with daily realities of displacement and longing. Their pieces move from intimate family memories to sharp political commentary, from moments of unexpected humor to raw accounts of waiting and searching. Each writer brings a different perspective on the Palestinian experience, whether living in exile or within Palestine itself. The collection captures both individual struggles and shared cultural memory as these authors confront questions that define their generation: How do you write about a place that exists in constant transition? How do you maintain connection to land and identity amid ongoing violence and oppression? The result reveals the many ways Palestinians continue to seek and reimagine their homeland.

Genres: essays, african-literature, autobiography, biography-memoir, ethnic-studies, cultural, activism, cultural-studies

Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, shared-cultural-memory

Setting: Israel, Palestine

Period: Contemporary

224 pages · Paperback · Olive Branch Press

Content warnings: colonialism, violence

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