Baraa’h Qandeel on Finding Her Next Words

Baraa’h Qandeel was one of the 16 emerging literary translators accepted to our Summer 2025 Gaza Literary Translation Workshop, supported by Palestine Writes. One of her self-translated poems, “Suffocation,” appeared in ArabLit this summer, and you can read more of her work at We Are Not Numbers. Now, she is working to raise money for graduate school. She spoke to ArabLit’s Mariam Tell.

By Mariam Tell

Baraa’ah Qandeel was still in school when she realized the power that words hold. After studying and enjoying English literature at school, she joined university as a student of translation studies. Today, she is preparing to continue her further education in Malaysia, an endeavor she has long set her hopes on. Devastatingly, the complete shuttering of the Rafah crossing prevented her from actualizing her first attempt at these dreams. This September, she is aiming to attempt the venture once again, if she can raise sufficient funds.

I spoke to Baraa’ah online from her home in Deir al-Balah, where she and her family were displaced during the genocide. In university, winning an essay contest was her first glance of her potential as a writer: “I realized that people liked what I was writing, and I liked being heard. I felt appreciated for my writing, like I could really do this, and do it well.”

We spoke too of her venture into poetry — her poem ‘Suffocation” was published in ArabLit in June. I asked her about the duty she felt to respond to the current moment. It’s difficult, she said, “I have so much respect for the writers who have been able to continue to write and respond to the horrors of this genocide.” She cited the last words of journalist Anas al-Sharif as something she had read recently that deeply moved her. In a time when the eulogies of those on the front lines are being written in advance, when all looking forward seems to yield the possibility of death, she wondered how she as a young poet could possibly put language to such a catastrophic time. 

“I’ve wanted to use my emotion, to channel my emotion into a helpful cause. A poem, or a piece that I can give to the world as a solace or to capture what is happening here. But no matter what I write, I feel words cannot do justice to the horrific acts of violence I have witnessed.” Despite the terror this young poet is facing continually, she is determined to move forward in her life.

“I want the opportunity everybody else gets, to live and enjoy my life in a peaceful country. I want stability and comfort.” It should be a simple ask — but for writers and young people like Baraa’h, the only opportunity for such a goal seems to be departure. “It’s sad. I don’t want to leave my family behind, but I feel I have no choice.” 

How to proceed? How to go on living when so many around you have died? Baraa’h admits she doesn’t have the answer, but still, she seeks comfort in the words of others. “Books have always been my way of understanding the world. Before the war, my library was where I could turn to when the world outside was unbearable.” 

You can help Baraa’ah reach Malaysia for her Master’s degree in Marketing by promoting and donating to this campaign: https://gofund.me/6667cd42b

Mariam Tell is ArabLit’s Summer 2025 intern.