Anthologies

In this section we'll keep you up to date with news of books you might be interested in. The information will come from the publishers' website and we will add our reviews as often as we can.

Do also look out for events information and keep us posted if you are an organiser.

And remember, feedback is always welcome.

Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women

Edited by Jo Glanville

Telegram  ISBN 9781846590122

These fascinating and diverse stories reflect the everyday concerns of Palestinians living under occupation. Writers who were children during the first intifada appear alongside those who remember the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war.

Palestinian women offer compassionate, often critical, insight into their society in times of hardship and turmoil, yet look beyond to the warmth of human relations and the hope that better times will come. The anthology reflects the concerns of Palestinians — from life under occupation to questions of identity. Politics and its impact on individual lives is not the only theme of this fiction, which ranges from the surreal to reportage in style. There are also love stories, poignant reflections on family life and on exile.

Contributors include authors from the occupied territories, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and writers from the Palestinian Diaspora. They include: Liana Badr, one of the most distinguished Palestinian authors writing today; Adania Shibli, one of the newer and younger voices; Laila Al Atrash, author of many novels and short stories and Naomi Shihab Nye, an acclaimed Palestinian-American writer.

Jo Glanville is a journalist and radio producer with a strong attachment to the Middle East and a particular interest in the history of Palestine and Israel. She lived in the Old City, East Jerusalem, in the mid-90s. Since then she has directed her career towards the Middle East whenever possible. She is the editor of Index on Censorship.

The Sea of Azov

Anne Joseph

Five Leaves Publishing ISBN 9781905512607

February 2009

New fiction by Ali Smith, Jon McGregor, Tamar Yellin, Richard Zimler, Amy Bloom, Nicole Krauss, Karen Maitland, Etgar Keret, Eshkol Nevo, Michelene Wandor, Tania Hershman, Jonathan Wilson, Zvi Jagendorf, Shaun Levin, Ellen Galford.

Stories of betrayal and fear, desire and satisfaction, love, grief and revenge.

“And so I read these stories certain that I would find connections between them and there are plenty. Whispers and shadows abound. The dark menace lurking in the best fairy tales is never far from the surface in most of these stories, too. All the contributors, whatever differences in age, gender or geographical location, are trying to make sense of the brutal century from which we have emerged and the uncertain one into which we are still tentatively trespassing, not ready to claim ownership. Some seem to have sought connections to dead relatives who live on in memory or genetic inheritance.” - From the introduction by Anne Sebba, author of Jennie Churchill: Winston’s American Mother.

Anne Joseph is a freelance feature writer and editor. She previously worked for several years as submissions editor for Haus Publishing. Her book, From the Edge of the World (2003, Vallentine Mitchell), is a collection of letters and stories written by Jewish refugees. The Sea of Azov was the birthplace of Chekhov – the master of the short story

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Mordecai's First Brush with Love

New Stories by Jewish Women in Britain
Edited by Laura Phillips and Marion Baraitser

Loki Books ISBN 9782147483647
January 2004

A pregnant Catholic wife sits at her new husband’s Jewish celebration table. A daughter imagines her own birth through her mother’s eyes. An Arab-Israeli taxi driver is misunderstood for saving a Jewish child....

Contemporary British Jewish women writers take an honest and fresh look at their status as integrated outsiders and come up with some witty and profound surprises.

Includes Erica Wagner, Elisabeth Russell Taylor, Shelley Weiner, Rivkie Fried, Rachel Farhi, Anna Sullivan, Elizabeth Stern, Lydia Rivlin, Joanna Pearl, Michelene Wandor, Wendy Brandmark, Lana Citron, Tamar Yellin, Norma Cohen, Ruth Joseph, Joan Michelson, Bobbie Dahdi, Sally Cline, Marion Baraitser.