This Is Not a Border: Reportage and Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature

Writers from Alice Walker to Michael Ondaatje to Claire Messud share their thoughts on one of the most vital gatherings of writers and readers in the world. The Palestine Festival of Literature was established in 2008 by authors Ahdaf Soueif, Brigid Keenan, Victoria Brittain and Omar Robert Hamilton. Bringing writers to Palestine from all corners of the globe, it aimed to break the cultural siege imposed by the Israeli military occupation, to strengthen artistic links with the rest of the world, and to reaffirm, in the words of Edward Said, "the power of culture over the culture of power." Celebrating the tenth anniversary of PalFest, This Is Not a Border is a collection of essays, poems, and sketches from some of the world's most distinguished artists, responding to their experiences at this unique festival. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, their gathered work is a testament to the power of literature to promote solidarity and hope in the most desperate of situations. Contributing authors include J. M. Coetzee, China Miéville, Alice Walker, Geoff Dyer, Claire Messud, Henning Mankell, Michael Ondaatje, Kamila Shamsie, Michael Palin, Deborah Moggach, Mohammed Hanif, Gillian Slovo, Adam Foulds, Susan Abulhawa, Ahdaf Soueif, Jeremy Harding, Brigid Keenan, Rachel Holmes, Suad Amiry, Gary Younge, Jamal Mahjoub, Molly Crabapple, Najwan Darwish, Nathalie Handal, Omar Robert Hamilton, Pankaj Mishra, Raja Shehadeh, Selma Dabbagh, William Sutcliffe, Atef Abu Saif, Yasmin El-Rifae, Sabrina Mahfouz, Alaa Abd El Fattah, Mercedes Kemp, Ru Freeman. Introduction / -- Adhaf Soueif Welcome -- Mahmoud Darwish Where does Palestine begin? -- Yasmin El-Rifae The Gaza suite : Gaza -- Suheir Hammad Jerusalem -- Adhaf Soueif Draw your own conclusions -- J.M. Coetzee Three encounters on the West Bank -- Mercedes Kemp Through the looking-glass -- Adam Foulds Sleeping in Gaza -- Najwan Darwish Once upon a Jeusalem -- Susan Abulhawa Permission to enter -- Jeremy Harding Privatising Allenby -- Suad Amiry Allenby border crossing -- Sabrina Mahfouz Qalandia -- Gillian Slovo After ten years -- John Horner Diary -- Brigid Keenan India and Israel : an ideological convergence -- Pankaj Mishra In the company of writers -- Kamila Shamsie The Gaza suite : Jabaliya -- Suheir Hammad Letters from Gaza -- Atef Abu Saif Gaza, from Cairo -- Selma Dabbagh From the diaspora, part one -- Jehan Bseiso Darkening the dramaturgy -- Omar El-Khairy This poem will not end apartheid -- Remi Kanazi An image -- Geoff Dyer Poetry and protest -- Maath Musleh Cold violence -- Teju Cole The City of David -- Ghada Karmi The writer's job -- William Sutcliffe From the diaspora, part two -- Jehan Bseiso Equality, supremacy and security -- Ed Pavlić A gift for PalFest -- Alice Walker Silence is a language -- Jeremy Harding Drawing PalFest -- Muiz Diary -- Deborah Moggach Until it isn't -- Remi Kanazi Sight -- Ru Freeman The end of apartheid -- Henning Mankell What we witnessed -- Michael Ondaatje Stories from the Armenian Quarter -- Nancy Kricorian A scramble of authors -- Michael Palin Bethlehem -- Sabrina Mahfouz Crucifixion -- Nathalie Handal Pakistan/Palestine -- Mohammed Hanif Hebron -- Sabrina Mahfouz The stranglehold -- Victoria Brittain The sound of a festival -- Chinua Achebe South Africa and Israel : a familiar geography -- Rachel Holmes The Gaza suite : Rafah -- Suheir Hammad Shujaiyya dust -- Molly Crabapple Gaza -- Sabrina Mahfouz A decade of writers' walks -- Raja Shehadeh Let your lives speak -- Linda Spalding A bus stop in London -- Najwan Darwish The scattering -- Claire Messud How to survive exile -- Sabrina Mahfouz What we talk about when we talk about Palestine -- Jamal Mahjoub The Gaza suite : Tel El Hawa -- Suheir Hammad Exit strategy -- China Miéville The Gaza suite : Zeitoun -- Suheir Hammad The end of art is peace -- Omar Robert Hamilton. The Palestine Festival of Literature was established in 2008 by authors Ahdaf Soueif, Brigid Keenan, and Omar Robert Hamilton. Bringing writers to the nation from all corners of the globe, it aimed to break the cultural siege imposed by the Israeli military occupation, to strengthen artistic links with the rest of the world, and to reaffirm, in the words of Edward Said, "the power of culture over the culture of power." Celebrating the tenth anniversary of PalFest, Annexe is a collection of essays, poems, and sketches from some of the world's most distinguished artists, responding to their experiences at this unique festival. Both heartbreaking and hopeful, their gathered work is a testament to the power of literature to promote solidarity and hope in the most desperate of situations. Contributing authors include J. M. Coetzee, China Mieville, Alice Walker, Geoff Dyer, Claire Messud, Henning Mankell, Michael Ondaatje, Kamila Shamsie, Michael Palin, Deborah Moggach, Mohammed Hanif, Richard Ford, Gillian Slovo, Adam Foulds, Susan Abulhawa, Ahdaf Soueif, Jeremy Harding, Brigid Keenan, Rachel Holmes, Suad Amiry, Gary Younge, Jamal Mahjoub, Molly Crabapple, Najwan Darwish, Nathalie Handal, Omar Robert Hamilton, Pankaj Mishra, Raja Shehadeh, Selma Dabbagh, William Sutcliffe, Atef Abu Saif, Yasmin El-Rifae, Sabrina Mahfouz, Alaa Abd El Fattah, Mercedes Kemp, Ru Freeman. "