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Truths No One Seeks

An evening exploring Palestinian literature forged in the crucible of starvation, displacement, and the constant fear of death under genocide. How do such extreme conditions reshape language? What happens to words when they are pushed to the very edge of existence? And what truths emerge from writing that stands at the precipice of life and death? Who is willing to listen? A conversation between Husam Maarouf, Alaa Alqaisi and Esther Dischereit.

Husam Maarouf is a poet from Gaza and the co-founder of Gaza Publications, an independent press launched during the genocide who publishes urgent new Palestinian writing. His work, devoted to the traumas of his homeland, includes two poetry collections, Death Smells Like Glass and The Barber Loyal To His Dead Clients, as well as the novel Ram’s Chisel.

Alaa Alqaisi is a writer, translator, and researcher from Gaza. She holds an MA in Translation Studies and is currently a PhD candidate in comparative literature at Trinity College Dublin. Her writing and scholarship explore how literature and storytelling bear witness to the harshest lived realities and journeys across cultures. Her work appears in Literary Hub, Adi Magazine, ArabLit and elsewhere.

Esther Dischereit, based in Berlin, is a renowned writer of fiction, poetry, and essays, and a creator for both radio and stage. Her works include the novels Joëmis Tisch, Merryn, two volumes of essays, several poetry collections, and a short story anthology. Dischereit has also curated contemporary art and new media projects. As a Fellow at the Moses Mendelssohn Centre for European and Jewish Studies and the DAAD Chair for Contemporary Poetics at NYU, she has received numerous accolades, including the Erich Fried Prize for her writing in 2009.

Curated by Abdalrhaman Alqalaq, Katherine Halls and Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus