A Map of Absence

Atef Alshaer is a lecturer in Arabic Studies at the University of Westminster. He was educated at Birzeit University in Palestine and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he obtained his PhD and taught for a number of years. His other publications include Poetry and Politics in the Modern Arab World and Love and Poetry in the Middle East (forthcoming).

The Nakba or catastrophe' of 1948 saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians dispossessed from their land to create the state of Israel, creating a refugee crisis that is still ongoing today. This trauma is a central theme in much of the contemporary writing from Palestine, whose writers have been the vanguard of identity and representation of their people, rendering their depths, fears, longings and hopes in a variety of discourses and styles. This unique collection brings together the finest poetry and prose on the Nakba by Palestinian writers over the last seventy years, for the first time. Covering three critical periods (pre-Nakba, post-Nakba and post-Oslo Accords), it includes translated excerpts of poems, novels, short stories and memoirs by major authors such as Mahmoud Darwish, Samira Azzam, Fadwa Tuqan and Edward Said, as well as by emerging Palestinian writers. Showcasing the vibrant and distinctive literature of Palestine, this landmark anthology highlights the ongoing resonances of the Nakba as the occupation enters its seventieth year. It is the ideal book both for lovers of world literature and for those who seek a more intimate understanding of the conflict.

A seminal collection of writings on the Nakba by major as well as emerging Palestinian writers, showcasing their vibrant and distinctive literature.

Writings before the NakbaIbrahim Tauqan (My Homeland and Red Tuesday, Translated by Issa J. Boullata)Abu Salma al-Karmi (We Will Return)Abdel Rahim Mahmoud (The Martyr)Samira Azzam (Bread of Sacrifice, Translated by Salma al-Jayussi; or Man and His Alarm Clock, Translated by Joseph Farag )Aref al-Aref (Excerpt from: The Catastrophe: The Catastrophe of Jerusalem and the Lost Paradise)Wasif Jawhariyyeh (Excerpt from the Storyteller of Jerusalem: The Life and Times of Wasif Jawhariyyeh (1904-1948, authored by Salim Tamari and translated by Nada El-Zeer)Ishaq Musa al-Husayni (Excerpt from: Memories of A Hen)Post NakbaConstantin Zureiq ( Excerpt from The Meaning of the Disaster)Mohammad Izzat Darwazeh (Excerpt from: Memories of Mohammad Izzat Darwazeh)Fadwa TauqanGhassan Kanafani (The Land of Sad Oranges)Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (excerpt from Hunters in a Narrow Street)Samih al-Qassim (So What If; Kafr Qasim; The End of A Discussion with A Travel Guard; Travel Tickets)Muin BisisiEmile HabibiMahmoud Darwish (Two Poems: Record I am an Arab and At the Train of a Station which Fell of The Map; To the Land and Standing Before the Ruins of el-Birweh, I am from There)Tawfiq Ziad (Like Twenty Impossible, We Shall Remain)Taha Muhammad Ali (Exodus)Rashid Hussein (Without a Passport)Salma Khadra JayussiAhmad DahburTawfiq Sayigh (To Enter A Country)Yahya YakhlifSahar KhalifehMourid BarghouthiWalid Khalidi1993Ghassan Zaqatan (Remembering the Grandmother and Beyond That)Raja Shehadeh (Excerpt from: A Rift in Time: Travels with My Ottoman Uncle)Edward Said Excerpt from After the Last Sky)Ghada Karmi (Excerpt from In Search of Fatima)Ibrahim Nasrallah (Excerpt from The Time of the White Horses)Antun Shammas (Excerpt from Arabesques)Ribai al-Madhoun (Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba)Elias Khoury (Excerpt from Men in the Sun)Liana BadreAtef Abu-SayfAdaniyya ShibliFawaz TurkiJean Said MakdisiSalman Abu Sitta (Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir)Karl Sabbagh (Palestine: A Personal History)Lisa Suhair Maja (Fifty Years On / Stones in an Unfinished Wall)Najwan Darwish (Excerpt from Nothing More to Lose)Remi KanaziSharif S. ElmusaSayed Kashua