About this episode

Naeeda Aurangzeb interviews Atef Abu Saif about writing as a form of resistance and his experiences as a Palestinian writer.

In the tenth episode of Current Literary Affairs, journalist and writer Naeeda Aurangzeb is in conversation with Atef Abu Saif, Palestinian writer, political scientist, and former Minister of Culture of the Palestinian Authority. They talk about writing as a form of resistance and his motivation to continue telling the stories of Gazans. Writer Rashid Novaire will provide an introduction to Abu Saif’s work. This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at De Nieuwe Liefde, on June 13th 2025. Atef Abu Saif (1973) is a Palestinian writer, political scientist, and former Minister of Culture of the Palestinian Authority. He was born in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza and has published several novels, including A Suspended Life, which was nominated for the World Prize for Arab Fiction in 2015. His poignant diaries from Gaza have been published in outlets such as The New York Times and The Nation. They are collected in Don’t Look Left: A Diary of Genocide (2024). His earlier Gaza diaries were published as The Drone Eats Me (2015). Naeeda Aurangzeb (1974) is a journalist and radio and television presenter. For NTR, she hosted De halve maan and co-hosted Bureau Buitenland…

People in this episode

Host: Naeeda Aurangzeb

Guest: Atef Abu Saif

Topics covered

• literature
• Palestinian culture
• writing as resistance
• journalism
• storytelling

Keywords

• Atef Abu Saif
• Naeeda Aurangzeb
• Palestinian literature
• writing
• Gazans
• resistance
• journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: De Nieuwe Liefde

Books & works: A Suspended Life, Don't Look Left: A Diary of Genocide, The Drone Eats Me, Verdreven Palestijnen, Met het gezicht naar het Oosten, Kerstnacht Bethlehem

Places: Gaza

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