Palestine + 100

About

Our best-selling book of 2019!

Palestine + 100 poses a question to twelve Palestinian writers: what might your country look like in the year 2048 – a century after the tragedies and trauma of what has come to be called the Nakba? How might this event – which, in 1948, saw the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes – reach across a century of occupation, oppression, and political isolation, to shape the country and its people? Will a lasting peace finally have been reached, or will future technology only amplify the suffering and mistreatment of Palestinians?

Covering a range of approaches – from SF noir, to nightmarish dystopia, to high-tech farce – these stories use the blank canvas of the future to reimagine the Palestinian experience today. Along the way, we encounter drone swarms, digital uprisings, time-bending VR, peace treaties that span parallel universes, and even a Palestinian superhero, in probably the first anthology of science fiction from Palestine ever.

Translated from the Arabic by Raph Cormack, Mohamed Ghalaieny, Andrew Leber, Thoraya El-Rayyes, Yasmine Seale and Jonathan Wright. 

Press

WINNER of a PEN Translates Award 2018

'It's necessary, of course. But above all it's bold, brilliant and inspiring: a sign of boundless imagination and fierce creation even in circumstances of oppression, denial, silencing and constriction. The voices of these writers demand to be heard - and their stories are defiantly entertaining.' - Bidisha

One of NPR's Favourite Books of 2019.

One of The New Arab's Best Books by Arab authors 2019.

One of PopMatter's Best Books of 2019.

One of the 50 Books to Watch in 2019 by the Irish Times.

One of TranslatedLit's Most Anticipated Books for July 2019.

Read The Guardian's 'What will Palestine be like in 2048? Writers turn to sci-fi for the answer' report on Palestine +100.

Anwar Hamed's story 'The Key' longlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Awards 2019.

Saleem Haddad's story 'Song of the Birds' selected for The Year's Best Science Fiction (Vol. 1), an anthology of the best sci-fi and speculative fiction of 2019, to be published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster in the US (September 2020).  

PRAISE FOR PALESTINE +100

'Themes of nostalgia, memory and longing weave through this fascinating and unusual collection.' - The Financial Times 

'Palestine +100 gives the pleasure of a collection whose entries engage in conversation: about absence, borders and belonging.' - The TLS

'This rich and varied anthology offers thoughtful insight into the hopes, fears and traumas of people whose suffering has been wilfully ignored by the mainstream media for decades. It's also a timely and entertaining reminder of the potential of SF as a literature that reframes perceptions and challenges assumptions.' - Morning Star 

'I must admit, sci-fi isn't really for me but I loved the premise of this short story collection [...] Really enjoyed reading it. Also can we appreciate that Palestine +100 is groundbreaking...' - Elias Jahshan

'This book is not a happy read, but it's one that complicates our worldview, undermines our certainty and unravels our righteousness. We need more literature like this.' - Tor.com  

'I do know that as difficult as this book was for me to read, I'd do it again and again...' - NPR 

'There is no shortage of irony of cleverness in this collection. If anything, Palestinians have become experts in the deployment of these devices.' - Ceasefire Magazine

'The authors offer moments of insight and humor that suggest if nothing is certain about the future of Palestine, at least everything is possible.' - World Literature Today

'It's refreshing to read a sci-fi anthology based on Palestine. The topic alone makes it unique and worth the read' - Electronic Intifada

'If, as Ghalayini writes, Palestinian writers are unused to the sci-fi genre, then there are no missteps in this accomplished volume. This worthy collection excavates and probes, and reacquaints the west with the horrors of Palestinian existence right now.' - Middle East Eye

'A richly imaginative collection not merely in the traditional sci-fi vein of imagining possible futures, but in weaving powerful messages about our present in and through these futuristic imaginings. [...] a deeply rewarding addition to the global sci-fi canon.' - PopMatters

'A fascinating anthology...' - The National (plus read their conversation with editor Basma Ghalayini and contributors Selma Dabbagh and Mazen Maarouf)

'Just as we do when Handmaids Tale or Black Mirror plots unfold on the screen, you are most likely to read Palestine +100 and say, this is now.' - Lithub

'To forget is a sin in these futuristic tales' - Arab News

'By the time the last page is turned, the reader instinctively withdraws to reflect on 1948 to realise, just as Palestinians do, that chronology in colonisation becomes an abstract concept when compared to the trajectories of Palestinian memory and the power of contemplation for change.' - The New Arab 

'The uniqueness of their different visions speaks to both their skills as established writers and to the inherently uncertain nature of a Palestinian future.' - Mangal Media

'Every story in Palestine +100 is a gem that evokes feelings of suspense, excitement, horror and nostalgia... The talented writers have created futuristic stories with emotional and intellectual resonance.' - The Levant 

'I had a feeling the book would be unique. I wasn't expecting to be blind-sided... For all the sorrow and intensity influencing the stories, this is a positive read. You grow as a reader and as a person because of it.' - The Future Fire

'Palestine +100 will not bring justice for the Palestinian people. At least, not by itself, but it's part of something vitally important: it serves as a reminder that they are still there, still fighting, still angry, lost, and full of burning... it's a call, a roar, a celebration of the artistic and literary power of Palestine.' - Books and Bao

'The best science fiction, as Ursula Le Guin once noted, is not predictive but descriptive - less a rationalist mapping of the future than a slanted mirror which defamiliarises the present. This is exactly what these stories - populated by drone swarms, digital uprisings and the ghosts of the not-yet-dead - accomplish. Palestine +100 adopts sci-fi not as escapism, but as a new set of metaphors with which to engage the present political realities of occupied Palestine, and it's people's urgent desire for freedom and justice.' - TANK Magazine

'It's a rich tapestry for science fiction, not as a form of escape from the current struggle for liberation, but as a new method of reclaiming our narrative and thinking through our struggle.' Read an interview with Saleem Haddad at Open Democracy  

'A thought-provoking and inspiring book.' - Sabotage Reviews

'Palestine +100 is a strong, well-written collection of Palestinian science fiction... It places the imagining of a Palestinian future in the hands of its citizens' - Messengers from the Stars 

See some of the attention the book has been getting on Twitter.

READ

Read an excerpt from Mazen Maarouf's story 'The Curse of the Mud Ball Kid' on Lithub.

Read an interview with editor Basma Ghalayini at Chicago Review of Books.

Read the editor's introduction to the collection exclusively on our blog.

Read an extract from Mazen Maarouf's story 'The Curse of the Mud Ball Kid' on TANK Magazine. 

Take a deep dive into Mazen Maarouf's story 'The Curse of the Mud Ball Kid' with ArabLit.

Read an extract from Basma Ghalayini's introduction to the collection, and from Selma Dabbagh's story 'Sleep it Off, Dr Schott' at TWAILR.

Read Alice Banks' write-up of our Borderless Book Club session featuring editor Basma Ghalayini and translator Thoraya El-Rayyes here.

Coverage of the PEN award on Arab Lit.

WATCH

Watch Saleem Haddad and Rawan Yaghi discussing their contributions at Palestine Writes, Dec 2020.

Watch the event at Manchester Literature Festival, featuring Selma Dabbagh, Anwar Hamed & Basma Ghalayini on our YouTube channel. 

Watch a panel discussion about 'Radical Imagining' at the DC Palestinian Film & Arts Festival, featuring Saleem Haddad & Basma Ghalayini on their website (transcript available).

LISTEN

Listen to author Selma Dabbagh and editor Basma Ghalayini on the IPSC's Palestine Podcast (PP#34), discussing the collection as part of an event at Trinity College, Dublin. 

Listen to editor Basma Ghalayini, author Rawan Yaghi and academics Lindsey Moore and Barbara Dick on episode #3 of The Comma Press Podcast. 

Listen to author Ahmed Masoud, in conversation with Dr Sinead Murphy as they discuss arts under occupation on the LSE Middle East 'Instant Coffee' Podcast.

Listen to editor Basma Ghalayini and translator Thoraya El-Rayyes on Episode 12 of the Borderless Book Club podcast on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Soundcloud.