Join us in the shop to hear from author and researcher Yousef M. Aljamal, a close friend and collaborator of the renowned Palestinian poet and literature professor Refaat Alareer. Esteemed poet and musician, Hinemoana Baker will be chairing the conversation.
Last year, after Refaat was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City alongside his brother, sister, and nephews in December 2023, Yousef compiled If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose by Refaat Alareer.
The book is a carefully curated collection of Refaat's work, named after the poem that became a global sensation. Refaat wrote extensively about a range of topics: teaching Shakespeare and the way Shylock could be appreciated by young Palestinian students; the horrors of living under repeated brutal assaults in Gaza, one of which, in 2014, killed another of his brothers; and the generosity of Palestinians to each other, fighting, in the face of it all, to be the one paying at the supermarket checkout.
Hinemoana Baker (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa, Te Āti Awa) is the author of four poetry collections, her most recent Funkhaus was shortlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the 2021 Ockhams Awards. In 2024 she was the Randell Cottage Writer in Residence.
We're honored to have Yousef and Hinemoana in the shop with us, thanks to the support from Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa and Justice for Palestine.
This will be a very special event, not to be missed.
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