Palestine Book Awards: evening with authors captures spirit of resistance amid Gaza genocide

Middle East Monitor's (MEMO) flagship event, the Palestine Book Awards hosted its annual “Evening with the Authors” at London's P21 Gallery this evening, bringing together writers, translators and editors of this year's shortlisted books.

The event, hosted by author and journalist Victoria Brittain, provided attendees with unique insights into the creative processes behind some of the most significant works about Palestine published in English this year.

Now in its thirteenth year, the awards received more than 50 submissions, from which the judges selected seven exceptional works spanning poetry, children's literature, photography, cinema and academic research. The shortlisted works reflect the rich diversity of Palestinian narrative and scholarship.  Each work received high praise from the judges for its unique contribution to Palestinian literature and scholarship.

Brittain opened the evening on a sombre note, leading a packed audience in a minute's silence to remember the thousands of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza over the past year.

Though the author was unable to join the evening's celebrations, Brittain paid special tribute to shortlisted author Khadijeh Habashneh's Knights of Cinema: The Story of the Palestine Film Unit.

Habashneh’s work powerfully documents Palestinian cinema as a form of resistance. The book is an account of the creation of the Palestine Film Unit (PFU) and its founding members, from the photography department in the early years of the Palestinian revolution (1967-1968) to its evolution in the mid-1970s.

Atef Alshaer, senior lecturer in Arabic and cultural studies at the University of Westminster, then captivated the audience with a reading from his poetry collection ‘ Out of Gaza: New Palestinian Poetry’ while Brittain skilfully guided a series of conversations with each author, drawing out the inspirations and aspirations behind their works.

Photographers Sandra Barrilaro and Teresa Aranguren shared insights into their visual documentation of pre-Nakba Palestine in Against Erasure: A Photographic Memory of Palestine Before the Nakba, highlighting the significance of Mohammed El-Kurd's contributing foreword to their work.

The discussion then turned to Deema Al-Alami’s 48 Stories of Exile from Palestine, a remarkable self-published work. She revealed the book's extraordinary impact, having raised some hundreds of thousands of dollars for amputees and orphaned children in Gaza. The project brought together 80 contributors from 16 different ethnic backgrounds.

Lisa Bhungalia offered compelling insights into her academic work Elastic Empire, which examines the militarisation of humanitarian aid in Palestine. Bhungalia described how US counterterrorism mandates have become deeply embedded in aid distribution throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the early years of the global war on terror.

In presenting his translation of Ghassan Kanafani's The Revolution of 1936-1939 in Palestine, Hazem Jamjoum drew powerful parallels between historical and contemporary Palestinian resistance. Jamjoum emphasised the prescience of Kanafani's radical analysis, particularly his examination of Zionist structures, narratives, and institutions. The translator's observation that Palestinians have long recognised that Zionism presented an existential threat - a key theme in Kanafani's work - struck a particularly powerful chord with the audience in light of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Children's book, Lana Makes Purple Pizza: A Palestinian Food Tale by Amanda Najib provided the audience with simple ways to begin discussions on Palestine with younger family members, especially as the book centres around a Palestinian girl who is helping her mother make the Palestinian dish msakhan.

The engaging question and answer session that concluded the evening highlighted how each shortlisted work - from historical analysis to children's stories - serves as an act of resistance against the erasure of Palestinian identity, culture and history.

The winners of the Palestine Book Awards 2024 will be announced at a ceremony in London tomorrow.