In a rare visit to the UK, the Palestinian author Atef Abu Saif will be discussing his two latest works at Manchester’s recently opened independent bookshop: Chapter One Books. Born in Gaza Jabalia refugee camp, Abu Saif has used literature to carve out a strong identity for himself in a country that is frequently portrayed through sporadic media headlines as being ‘torn’ and ‘broken’. When he edited The Book of Gaza (Comma Press, 2014), an anthology of short stories from 10 Gazan writers, he aimed to re-invent the Western perception of the strip. On the brink of the book’s publication, the Israeli forces launched a disastrous 51 day attack on Gaza. His response, The Drone Eats with Me (Comma Press, 2015), is a harrowing day-by-day account of this war. When a country is so renowned for its conflict it is sometimes easy to forget the ‘universality of human relations’ as he describes it, that underpins any culture; Join Atef Abu Saif to remember that literature can thrive, regardless of location.
Fri 4 Sep, Chapter One Books, 19 Lever Street, M1 1BY, 7pm, FREE, www.commapress.co.uk
- Words:
- Wire Editor
- Published on:
- Tue 1 Sep 2015
