Read Palestine Week
Zines & reads
Dear readers,
What new reads are you spending time with this Read Palestine Week?
What projects are you supporting and amplifying?
In reading solidarity ,
Desi book aunty
I’m delving into more zines that offer material solidarity and support to writers in Gaza.
A message from our friends at Zines for Gaza:
Celebrate Read Palestine Week 2025 (Nov 29-Dec 05) by purchasing writings directly from Palestinian authors. Coastal Lines Press is a collective of writers and artists in Gaza. Through @zinesfromgaza, they publish independent booklets of poetry, essays, and testimonies that travel like vessels from coast to coast, turning words into vital aid for their families. For a full list of authors and zines, visit www.coastallinespress.com. Donate to an author’s fundraiser and send your receipt to coastallinespress@gmail.com to get your copy of the zine. To receive a print copy, include your name and mailing address. Join us in uplifting these voices and their urgent writings: @palestinian.shahd @palestiniannur @taqwa2006ahmed @sondos_tales @e.lives0.0 @jehad_kamal_2003 @mariam__m._kh @ahmad_elkhuwaja @khaled.alqershali @abood_el_shafie @haneen_alisawi @shahed_naouq4 Samah Zaqout
Additionally, I’m reading a generously gifted ebook copy of this new anthology.
Along with many folks, we are supporting this library project in Gaza initiated by Omar Hamad & Ibrahim;
About the project & Goals:
1. Preserve the surviving books:
Collect and restore books rescued from the rubble — witnesses of cultural survival.
2. Rebuild Gaza’s spirit through knowledge:
Establish the first public library in Gaza after the genocide — a safe space for rebuilding collective memory.
3. Support Gaza’s children through learning and imagination:
A dedicated children’s area filled with books, creative activities, and safe opportunities for play — nurturing curiosity, identity, and a lifelong love for reading.
4. Provide new sources of learning:
Expand access to literature, philosophy, history, science, and art for the new generation.
5. A space for art and expression:
Create an art section showcasing Gaza’s visual artists — keeping their colors alive.
6. Support local writers and artists:
A permanent platform for Gaza’s poets, storytellers, and creatives to share their voices.
7. Build hope and keep culture alive:
A symbol of rebirth — where children, students, and survivors can dream beyond the ruins.
8. Document the journey:
Share every step — collecting, restoring, building — so the world witnesses this rising.
9. Ensure long-term sustainability:
Through volunteers, workshops, book exchange, and community involvement.
From a land shattered a thousand times, we choose to rise a thousand and one.
We are not just building a library —
we are rebuilding a chance to learn,
and restoring books to their role in protecting what remains of our children’s and students’ future.
Every book that reaches this library
gives a child a moment of calm,
a student a window to the world,
and a person a reason to keep going.
With your support, you are not rebuilding a place
https://chuffed.org/project/firstgazalibrary