The Weaver Reads reviewed Gaza Writes Back by Refaat Alareer
Goodreads Review of Gaza Writes Back: Short Stories from Young Writers in Gaza, Palestine
4 stars
This is an excellent collection of short stories edited by Refaat Alareer. Many of the stories are by Alareer's own students in creative writing. It takes on a particular resonance, given that Alareer was killed last year by Israelis--he himself has since become a symbol.
The stand-out story in the collection is Alareer's "The House." It's imbued with a humor and absurdity that really brings light on the experience of Israel's occupation. The story that highlights inequalities between long-standing Gazan families and refugees in Gaza brought light to something that I knew nothing about before.
There's a lot of death here: A lot of night raids, lost parents, air strikes, and struggles to make ends' meet. All in all, it's a powerful collection of writing.
