Poetry

‘The Love’: New Poetry in Translation by Hoda Omran

'The Love': New Poetry in Translation by Hoda Omran
"Marriage is the afterlife / for which we have to cross this life, / leaving behind our homes and pasts, / waiting for justice with a light heart, / where our homes become our graves." ...

Two New Poems by Olivia Elias

Two New Poems by Olivia Elias
"nothing to hold on to no more suitcases / & nothing left to take away" ...

‘The Experience’: New Poetry in Translation by Hoda Omran

'The Experience': New Poetry in Translation by Hoda Omran
"My city is full of barking / as if it were our shared memory / howling out there, in the cold." ...

Three Poems by Fady Joudah

Three Poems by Fady Joudah
"After the genocide, / the genocide." ...

‘Rewaa, My Beloved…’: New Poetry by Asmaa Dwaima

'Rewaa, My Beloved…': New Poetry by Asmaa Dwaima
Three months ago, ArabLit contributor Asmaa Dwaima lost her sister, who was martyred along with her little son. This poem is for her sister, Rewaa ...

Two New Poems by Marah Muhammad Al-Khatib

Two New Poems by Marah Muhammad Al-Khatib
Nineteen-year-old poet Marah Muhammad Al-Khatib is a student in data science in Gaza who is one of the laureates of ArabLit's Summer 2025 Gaza Literary Translation Series; her work has appeared in Spanish with Elvantodelsuimangr and Gaza Tarevista ...

Hanan Issa, Writing After Nazik al Malaika

Hanan Issa, Writing After Nazik al Malaika
This poem was commissioned for the Voiced festival, highlighting global and local endangered languages through creativity; author Hanan Issa also talks here about her relationship with the poetry of Nazik al Malaika ...

‘Shadows of My Fate’: Two Poems by Samar Al Ghussein

'Shadows of My Fate': Two Poems by Samar Al Ghussein
These two poems are by Samar Al-Ghussein, a young Palestinian writer from Gaza who is at work on her first collection ...

Ibrahim Nasrallah’s ‘The Birds of Ala’ Al-Najjar’

Ibrahim Nasrallah's 'The Birds of Ala’ Al-Najjar'
On Friday morning, the 23rd of May 2025, while Ala’ Al-Najjar, a Palestinian pediatrician at Al-Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the Southern Gaza Strip, was treating the wounds of the injured children of the genocidal Israeli war, she received the news of martyrdom of her nine children: Yahia, Rakan, Raslan, Jubran, Eve, Revan, Sadeen, Luqman, and Sidra. Her eldest child was twelve years old, whereas her youngest was only a six-months old baby. Nine days later, her husband, Dr. Hamdi Al-Najjar, joined his children due to his serious wounds. Ala’ has only one child left alive. This poem is written for her ...

‘A City Beyond History’: New Poetry by Doha Kahlout

'A City Beyond History': New Poetry by Doha Kahlout
"Press your body to the sea— / it comes out cool, unharmed— / and let tears move across your hidden grief." ...