Batool Abu Akleen is a poet and translator in Gaza, Palestine. Her home in Gaza City and her university have been bombed and she has been displaced multiple times. We talked to her about refusing to write and then choosing to write through the genocide; about the importance of mentors; and about creating a community of literary translators in Gaza. Her first full-length collection, 48 kg, is set to appear from Tenement Press in June of this year. (Apologies for the sound quality; Batool spoke to us from one of the rare public venues in which it is possible to access the internet in Gaza; the connection was less than perfect and there is some background noise). Batool’s discussion of her new collection and the meaning of its title is at 16.46 and Batool and Marcia’s reading of the poem Milad/Birth is at 20.24. Show notes:You can pre-order Batool’s 48kg from Tenement Press. It’s coming June 15. Batool also has poems in the new GRIEF issue of ArabLit Quarterly and in Modern Poetry in Translation’s Salam to Gaza.Batool is one of the authors of Comma Press’s forthcoming Voices of Resistance, set to appear in August 2025.You can also read work by Heba al-Agha at ArabLit.You can donate to Batool’s GoFundMe at gofundme.com/f/donate-to-support-batools-causeYou can subscribe to BULAQ wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Twitter @bulaqbooks and Instagram @bulaq.books for news and updates. If you’d like to rate or review us, we’d appreciate that. If you’d like to support us as a listener by making a donation you can do so at https://donorbox.org/support-bulaq. BULAQ is co-produced with the podcast platform Sowt. Go to sowt.com to check out their many other excellent shows in Arabic, on music, literature, media and more. For all things related to Arabic literature in translation you should visit ArabLit.org, where you can also subscribe to the Arab Lit Quarterly. If you are interested in advertising on BULAQ or sponsoring episodes, please contact us at [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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