The Book Room: Recent Episodes
Samah Sabawi
The Book Room is a monthly podcast featuring writers whose works have contributed to decolonizing literature. Hosted by poet and playwright Samah Sabawi.
Randa Abdel-Fattah is a prominent Palestinian Egyptian Muslim author, academic, human rights advocate, former lawyer and mother of four children. The award-winning author of eleven novels, published and translated in over 20 countries, Randa writes across a wide range of genres and actively seeks to translate her academic work into creative interventions which reshape dominant narratives around race, human rights, multiculturalism and identity in popular culture. Her most recent non-fiction book, Coming of Age in the War on Terror, was shortlisted for the 2022 Stella Awards, the 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and the 2022 NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
Follow Randa on Twitter @RandaAFattah
Find links to purchase Randa’s books on our Bookshelf
The conversation in this episode was was recorded in February 2021 as part of a series of webinars presented by APAN, the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network. Thank you to Jessica Morrison and Sara Saleh from APAN for their work producing the event.
Music composed and performed by Nahed Elrayes.
Tony Birch is the author of three novels: the bestselling The White Girl, winner of the 2020 NSW Premier’s Award for Indigenous Writing, and shortlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin literary prize; Ghost River, winner of the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing; and Blood, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2012. He is also the author of Shadowboxing and three short story collections, Father’s Day, The Promise and Common People. In 2017 he was awarded the Patrick White Literary Award for his contribution to Australian literature. In 2021 he will release two new books, a poetry book, Whisper Songs and a new short story collection, Dark As Last Night. Both books will be published by University of Queensland Press.
Learn more about Tony at his website: tony-birch.com
Find links to purchase Tony’s books on our Bookshelf
The conversation in this episode was was recorded in January 2021 as part of a series of webinars presented by APAN, the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network. Thank you to Jessica Morrison and Sara Saleh from APAN for their work producing the event.
Music composed and performed by Nahed Elrayes.
Mohammed Massoud Morsi was born in Copenhagen in 1975 and promptly started a roving lifestyle, moving to Egypt with his Egyptian parents, then back to Denmark to further his schooling. He was drawn to writing from an early age and found his calling in places far beyond the news fronts, and into human wastelands––light years from the trodden tourist runs.
Morsi spent almost two decades as a freelance journalist and photographer immersed in communities with forgotten people and conflicts around the world. He primarily worked for NGOs and published feature articles in Danish newspapers. Along the way, he also held a wide variety of jobs (airline programmer, forklift driver, fisherman, etc.) and expressed an entrepreneurial flair establishing a photographic academy in Copenhagen, building a school in a Phnom Penh slum, growing herbs guerrilla style and farming rabbits in Egypt.
Morsi’s intimate images, whether from the edge of an AIDS hospital bed, from a rubbish dump with rubbish pickers in Cambodia, from the turmoil of the Gaza Strip or in South Lebanon, all reflect his deep sense of justice. Morsi’s life experiences have given him a rich matrix which looks to important questions, finding what is quintessentially human within much broader struggles. He is a natural storyteller with compelling authenticity and an exquisite feeling for romance, at once sensitive and earthy.
Morsi’s fiction and non-fiction have appeared in Australian and international publications. He has authored three novels and five non-fiction books. He lived in Europe, Africa and Asia before taking up residence in Australia in 2011. Now a citizen, he continues his writing and lives in Perth with his son, Zaki.
Find links to purchase Morsi’s books on our Bookshelf
The conversation in this episode was was recorded in November 2020 as part of a series of webinars presented by APAN, the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network. Thank you to Jessica Morrison and Sara Saleh from APAN for their work producing the event.
Music composed and performed by Nahed Elrayes.
In the first episode of The Book Room, Samah talks with Susan Abulhawa about her latest novel, Against The Loveless World. Susan Abulhawa is a novelist, poet and activist. Her debut novel, Mornings in Jenin (Bloomsbury, 2010), was an international bestseller translated into 32 languages, making her one of the most widely read Arab authors of all time. Her second novel, The Blue Between Sky and Water (Bloomsbury, 2015), was likewise translated into 20 languages. Her third novel, Against the Loveless World, was recently published by Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster in August 2020. Other works by Abulhawa include a poetry collection, My Voice Sought the Wind (Just World Books, 2012), several anthologies and a multitude of articles and essays in both print and online media. Abulhawa is also a biologist and the founder of Playgrounds for Palestine (PfP), a children’s organization dedicated to upholding The Right to Play for Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation and in refugee camps elsewhere. To date, PfP has built over 50 playgrounds and supported various recreational and educational programs for children.
Learn more about Susan at her website: www.susanabulhawa.com
Find links to purchase Susan’s books on our Bookshelf
The conversation in this episode was was recorded in October 2020 as part of a series of webinars presented by APAN, the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network. Thank you to Jessica Morrison and Sara Saleh from APAN for their work producing the event.
Music composed and performed by Nahed Elrayes.