I already knew and loved Toni Morrison, but have since been reading Claudia Rankine, Ta-Nehisi Coates, bell hooks, Rebecca Roanhorse and Tommy Orange. I’ve tried to read more writers from marginalized communities. Then when I learned Arabic, I read it in the original, and now I write about it in my dissertation. I first read it in Hebrew translation, and it shook me to my core, as it narrates the history of Palestine/Israel from a perspective I was taught not to see. A novel that has left a lasting impact on me is Elias Khoury’s Gate of the Sun. Today I’m much more critical of his approach to politics, but I do still love his writing. When I was young the Hebrew poet Yehuda Amichai was my favorite writer, thanks to his ability to describe everyday experiences as poetic revelations. N.L.: What author or book has impacted you personally or professionally that you would like to share or recommend? Why? And I suppose the common theme of the books I mentioned is identity in crisis, struggles of belonging, which is certainly something I write about and think about a lot. Baldwin is a great example of that, and Darwish is known mostly as a poet but I absolutely love his prose writing. As for literature, I tend to gravitate towards poetic writing, even in prose. Y.K.: In terms of academic writing, I really appreciate and admire clear writing, which is very difficult to do. This brings me to my next question: is there a common theme in your book selections? Do you gravitate to any book genre and, if so, what? And why? His essay The Creative Process is one of my favorite pieces of literature. I have personally also found James Baldwin’s work to be exceptional. His essays provide a good historical map to the current Palestinian homeland situation, the loss felt by her people, and what it means to them, living within the walls of occupation. Mahmoud Darwish’s essays provide us with solemn and poignant insights into the Palestinian people. N.L.: Journal of Ordinary Grief is a wonderful collection of essays. I can't believe it's taken me this long to read it. A good friend of mine has always said it's her favorite book and I've finally gotten around to reading it. In addition, unrelated to my work I've been reading James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room. But then when I picked it up I couldn't put it down, so I've just kept on reading it long after I forgot what the footnote was about. As I was writing the introduction to my dissertation I mentioned this book in a footnote - I work on nationalism and mourning in Palestinian and Israeli literatures. Journal is intensely personal while also describing a collective pain that has become part of life. In it, Darwish chronicles the ongoing, almost mundane grief of Palestinians living in exile, suffering various forms of dispossession since 1948. It's a text that defies all genre categories as it oscillates between prose and poetry, documentary and fiction. Y.K.: This week, I've been reading Journal of Ordinary Grief by Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish. To start us off, what are you reading this week? N.L.: Good afternoon Yael thank you so much for doing this interview. Yael was interviewed by Nathan Liebetreu, a marketing and media intern at the Institute for the Humanities.
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