Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably present SUMUD at U Penn, with Dr. Huda Fakhreddine and Ahmad Almallah (Philadelphia)

Friday, January 31, 2025,4:00pm - 6:00pm

Middle East Center - U Penn
3340 Walnut Street
Fisher-Bennett Hall, Suite 228
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6273

MORE INFO HERE: https://mec.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/01/31/sumud-new-palestinian-reader

A Conversation Between Dr. Huda Fakhreddine and Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader Editors Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably, and a Powerful Poetic Recital from Ahmad Almallah

SUMŪD: A New Palestinian Reader is an anthology that celebrates the power of culture in Palestinian resistance, with selections of memoir, short stories, essays, book reviews, personal narrative, poetry, and art from the Markaz Review.

The Arabic word sumūd is often loosely translated as “steadfastness” or “standing fast.” It is, above all, a Palestinian cultural value of everyday perseverance in the face of Israeli occupation. Sumūd is both a personal and collective commitment; people determine their own lives, despite the environment of constant oppressions imposed upon them. 
In times of devastation, poetry, literature, and art are the mediums through which oppressed peoples reveal cherished aspects of their existences and remain defiant in the fight for self-determination. Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader honors the Palestinian spirit and its power in the face of dispossession and war. When governments around the world enable the genocide of a people and the dilapidation of a sacred homeland, the Palestinian people stand fast and resist. The fifty-eight contributions in this collection remind readers that just as love perseveres, so do the Palestinians, and their struggles and triumphs.
This anthology spans the 20th and 21st centuries of Palestinian cultural history, and highlights writing from 2021–2024. The essays, stories, poetry, art and personal narrative collected in Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader is a rich riposte to those who would denigrate Palestinians’ aspirations for a homeland. It also serves as a timely reminder of culture’s power and importance during occupation and war.