Join Comma Press to launch Palestine – 1, an anthology of fantastical Palestinian fiction exploring the build up to, and aftermath of, 1948.

In collaboration with Comma Press, this event at Manchester Museum launches Palestine Minus One, a unique anthology of short fiction exploring the single event that underpins Israel’s 77-year occupation of historic Palestine: the Nakba of 1948. Join us for an evening of reflection, discussion, food, readings and artefacts from the Museum’s own archive, with the book’s contributors, experts and one very special guest.

We will be joined on the night by author Yara El-Ghadban and editor Basma Ghalayini, along with Gazan speculative fiction expert Shaimaa Abulebda, activist Musheir El Farra and a very special guest (tba).

This event will include a dramatic reading of Yara El-Ghadban’s ‘Forest of Saffouryeh’ alongside extracts from the book, all accompanied by archive photography and traditional Palestinian food from Baity Palestinian Kitchen, who will be serving up small plates of lovingly prepared food, inspired by family recipes passed down through generations. Meat, vegetarian and vegan options available.

Proceeds from this event will be donated to Sheffield PSC’s Khan Younis emergency relief fund.

About the Book

Twelve Palestinian authors were invited to reflect on the events of 1948 – the systematic violence, massacres and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians – and to explore this trauma through speculative fiction. The result stands as a prequel to the award-winning Palestine + 100, and a unique response to the genocide we have witnessed over the last two years.

About the Speakers

Yara El-Ghadban is a Palestinian-Canadian novelist and anthropologist. She is the author of four novels. La danse des flamants roses (2024) won the Mare Nostrum Prize, the Prix du 3e Poulpe and was shortlisted for the Prix Frontières in France. Her third novel Je suis Ariel Sharon (2018) has been translated into English, Arabic and German. She lives and writes in Montreal, and will be joining us via videolink.

Basma Ghalayini is the editor of the award-winning Palestine + 100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba. She is an occasional translator from the Arabic and is the Productions Manager at Comma Press. She was born in Khan Younis, and lived in the Gaza Strip until she was 27.