Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably present SUMUD at Harvard Divinity School, with Hilary Rantisi (Cambridge)

Thursday, January 30, 2025
James East, Swartz Hall Room 120
45 Francis Ave, Cambridge MA 02138
5:15 - 6:30pm

RSVP HERE (Required): https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e5I4GZJJkJkxGrI

The Arabic word sumūd is often loosely translated as “steadfastness.” Both a personal and collective commitment, sumūd is people determining their own lives, despite the environment of oppressions imposed upon them.

This book talk features Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader. Co-editors Jordan Elgrably and Malu Halasa will discuss this anthology, which spans the 20th and 21st centuries of Palestinian cultural history. The collection celebrates the power of culture in Palestinian resistance with selections of memoir, short stories, essays, book reviews, personal narrative, poetry, and art from 46 contributors.

Moderated by Hilary Rantisi, Associate Director of the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative.

Please register by noon on Monday, January 27. Light dinner will be provided. Registration will still be accepted after this date.

This event will be recorded.

For more information, please contact rpl@hds.harvard.edu.

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.