The first podcast from the Palestine Festival of Literature.
This is a format we’ve been wanting to bring to you for a long time.
The PalFest Podcast will highlight new books from and about Palestine, bringing writers together in conversation across borders to discuss new ideas and dig into vital histories.
Each episode will feature a different pairing of writers, presented by our co-hosts Beesan Ramadan and Mirza Waheed who, together, will guide us through these unique, essential conversations.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Patreon, YouTube and everywhere else podcasts live.
Episode 1 - Batool Abu Akleen talks to Wiam El-Tamami about 48Kg.
For our very first conversation, we are incredibly lucky to have Batool Abu Akleen, a brilliant young poet from Gaza, in conversation with Wiam el-Tamami, Egyptian writer and one of Batool’s translators, speaking from Berlin. They discuss Batool’s debut collection of poems, 48Kg., which critics have described as ‘profound’, ‘vital’, ‘haunting’ and ‘an extraordinary book of poetry’.
This episode was recorded between Palestine & Germany on September 13th, 2025.
Episode 2 - Noor Hindi & George Abraham talk to Rachael Allen about Heaven Looks Like Us
Ahead of the UK launch of the new anthology of Palestinian poetry, Heaven Looks Like Us, on October 29th, we are thrilled to bring you George Abraham and Noor Hindi, the co-editors, in conversation with Rachael Allen, the poetry editor at Fitzcarraldo Editions.
This episode was recorded between Massachusetts, Detroit & London on October 6th, 2025.
Get tickets for the launch here, join Bookshelf here or get the anthology here.
In the third instalment of The PalFest Podcast we are excited to bring you Laleh Khalili, the esteemed professor and writer in conversation with the authors of Resisting Erasure: Capital, Imperialism and Race in Palestine; Adam Hanieh, Robert Knox & Rafeef Ziadah.
This episode was recorded between Exeter, Beijing, Liverpool and London on October 13th, 2025.
Episode 4 - Tareq Baconi in conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates about Fire in Every Direction
In this special live recording of The PalFest Podcast we bring you the launch of Tareq Baconi’s Fire in Every Direction: A Memoir. Baconi was joined by Ta-Nehisi Coates in a conversation about personal and political memoir.
This episode was recorded in New York at the Middle Collegiate Church on October 26th, 2025.
Episode 5 - Randa Abdel-Fattah in conversation with Sara Yasin about Discipline
Award-winning author, lawyer, human rights activist and community volunteer, Randa Abdel-Fattah in conversation with PalFest's own Sara Yasin.
They discuss Abdel-Fattah's new novel, Discipline and navigating racism and censorship within major media and academic institutions.
Discipline is the current pick on PalFest's Bookshelf subscription program, which you can subscribe to here.
This episode was recorded between Palestine and so-called Australia on November 17th, 2025.
Episode 6 - Isabella Hammad & Mirza Waheed on "Palestine and Kashmir"
In this live recording, Isabella Hammad and Mirza Waheed hold a unique discussion on Palestine, Kashmir and the parallels and divergences in their modern struggles with colonialism.
They discuss art and consciousness around the dual ruptures of 1948, reportage and narration of historical insurgency and their own roles as artists working from within the imperial core.
This episode was recorded at The Southbank Centre, London on November 1st, 2025.
Episode 7 - Nasser Abourahme in conversation with Edwin Nasr
“Israel is a defeated project.” So begins Nasser Abourahme’s monumental essay in PALESTINE IS EVERYWHERE.
Join us for the latest episode of the PalFest Podcast for a deep, structural analysis of Israel’s current strengths and weaknesses, the geopolitical shifts happening all around it and much, much more. It’s a fascinating conversation between Nasser and the book’s senior editor Edwin Nasr - and we’re thrilled to bring it to you for our 7th Episode.
Nasser is a writer and teacher, and currently assistant professor at Bowdoin College. He’s the author of The Time Beneath the Concrete: Palestine between Camp and Colony (Duke University Press, 2025).
Edwin is a writer and curator living in Berlin, his first short novel, Fears Eats Ali (Wendy's Subway and Wirklichkeit Books), is forthcoming.
This episode was recorded between New York and Berlin on November 12th, 2025.
Episode 8 - Yasmin Zaher & Saleem Haddad
In a wide-ranging discussion the two writers compare notes on their experiences of publishing debut novels in English, how their work was packaged, presented and received - and the ways in which that diverged from their intentions when writing.
Saleem Haddad's GUAPA was published in 2016 by Europa Editions to great acclaim. His new novel, FLOODLINES, is about to come out.
Yasmin Zaher's THE COIN was published in 2025 and won the Dylan Thomas Prize - one of the most prestigious awards for young writers.
This episode was recorded between Paris and Lisbon on November 24th, 2025.