Long Grass in the Wind

‘A loving collection of essays, sometimes poignant, sometimes comic, always engaging.’ - Raja Shehadeh and Penny Johnson, authors of Forgotten: Searching for Palestine’s Hidden Places and Lost Memorials.

'Told in both Arabic and English, these stories pass across thresholds, between generations — sometimes a prayer, a parable, or an invitation to play. Each is a quiet offering that evokes a collective wish. Here, translation becomes care: a practice of memory, of reaching across without reducing. These pieces invite us to listen closely, and imagine otherwise, together' - Nadine Monem

This unique anthology, in Levantine Arabic and English, features writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, teachers, translators and more – from Iran, Lebanon, the Occupied Golan Heights, the Occupied West Bank, Switzerland and Syria.

Writing for adults and older children, and with translation and cultural exchange in heart and mind, they tell personal tales of what matters, and how meaning can shift in moments of crisis and transformation. These are focused memoirs of place, love, loss, family, food, music, borders and the sky.

The ongoing experience of Palestine is central to many, but approached from surprising perspectives. While singular and distinct, each tale shares a tender and passionate commitment to encounters with difficulty, difference and forms of radical persistence – an ‘eyes wide open’ gaze on the world as it is, while never forgetting the world as it could be.

Edited by Andrea Luka Zimmerman and Rana Kayed

Contents:
Preface Andrea Luka Zimmerman 9
Introduction Rana Kayed 13

Letter To My Younger Self Andrea Luka Zimmerman 17
My Two Little Boys Umama Hamido 27
It All Started With The Radio Salim Abu Jabal 37 Top And Bottom Abdallah Motan 47
Deep Dive Into My Heart Shams Aldeen 57
Chasing Za’tar Samah Hijawi 71 How To Decorate Our Cages Shada Safadi 81
Chosen Steps Laura E. Fischer 89
Garlic In My Mouth Julie-Yara Atz 97 Sky Reza Tavakol 111
Our Dreams, Our Hopes: Rana Kayed 123
Biographies 133 Credits and Acknowledgements 145