They're not lying when they said or recommend this book as introduction to literature on Palestine and especially Gaza. This is a non-fiction: collection of essays about daily life in Gaza, observations made & experiences lived for years & decades by Gazan voices. It has chapters on Gaza & Palestinians agriculture, architectural design, family life, arts & culture, food and how all that ties to a sense of connection, belonging, and emotional attachment to one's identity as Gazan & Palestinian; one that has been weakening by years as the occupation continues, by intentional effort from Israel to separate Palestine from their identity & who they are. It really makes me think & an eye opener, sure bombs & building collapsing with lives being lost are terribly gruesome. But being tortured, controlled, limited in micro ways for every single day of your life? It felt much worse and sinister, true spirit breaking method, yet Gaza & Palestinians persist.

If you ever wonder what to start with when it comes to reading books on the matter, please highly consider this one.

I had a free copy of the ebook on my shelf already but have always needing more push to start, so when I saw that an audiobook is available on NetGallet, I immediately apply for it. The quality of the audio and narrator was amazing: I love how I can listen to how the Arab words are pronounced by the narrators, and btw, they have different narrators for each essay piece! The speed was great. A bit too slow for me, but I can always speed it up personally while others with limited English would be able to comprehend it very fine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book.

This book was very moving and informative. I liked reading works from Palestinians about their own experiences. This is a very important resource for looking at the conflict and how real people have been living through it.

Quite the insightful anthology this was! I truly liked that we got a wide array of different styles, authors, types of writings, topics, etc. It’s really helps get a deeper understanding of life in Gaza and all the challenges and factors surrounding it. My only complaint and what made me take it half a star, is that each narrator would read texts of authors the same gender as them, and although it helped give life to their voices, since there would be times when several texts by men would be read, it became a little mushy in my mind and felt strange whereas the sudden change in topic. Still a great anthology that I would absolutely recommend to everyone. 4.5 stars

I know this book came out two years ago, but when it appeared in Netgalley as an audio book I decided I needed to listen to it. Previous to what is currently going on, I have minimal knowledge of this ongoing hardship that Palestinians in Gaza are facing. But I felt like I needed to look for literature so I could better understand the situation. This is a collect of stories and poems from people currently in Gaza. This gives you a first hand account into what these people are facing and you get to see their side. It was a very emotional listen as an audiobook. This is not a light read, this is the heartbreaking reality, I truly recommend that everyone reads this book.

When I requested this audiobook, I expected it to be more of a collection of stories from Gaza, where the authors are from and want to express their views through art. Yet, as artistic as they were, what I received was a collection of profound essays compressing all that we need to know about the situation of the Palestinian people. I don't want to say I loved it, but the audiobook was amazing. It pierces right through the heart and shows how, behind all trauma, is a human being with a rich culture and yet with the same set of emotions anyone would have. The essays touched on several subjects and answered the most popular questions: who was the first, what is the possible solution, why not to leave? Those and many more were addressed in an easy-to-absorb, yet not easy-to-shake-off manner. I would encourage anyone who is open to learning and has limited time and resources to spend some time with these amazing people and listen to what they have to say.

** There was an error finding ISBN of this book on Goodreads, hence I will be posting this review there manually **

This anthology of Palestinian writers is the culmination of work to organise and centre Palestinian voices that have so often been silenced throughout the ongoing genocide. The authors included in this anthology are: Refaat Alareer, Asmaa Abu Mezied, Shahd Abusalama, Basman Aldirawi, Salem Al Qudwa, Suhail Taha, Nour Naim, Mosab Abu Toha, Dorgham Abusalim, Yousef M. Aljamal, and Israa Mohammed Jamal.

This book is a blend of poetry, personal accounts of lives impacted by the constant oppression and bombardment from Israel, and academic accounts discussing what has happened to the people of Palestine and various methods that could and should be implemented in order to improve the lives of civilians.

Whilst I enjoyed the poems and the academic discussion, my favourite sections by far were the person accounts of individual lives. Seeing how families had been impacted, education, and more. I especially enjoyed the account by Mosab Abu Toha that discussed the importance of literature and the struggles he had importing and then keeping an English language library within Gaza. With Israel stopping shipments for months at a time, under the pretext of preventing "prohibited" items from entering Gaza.

The first essay in this collection is by the recently martyred author Refaat Al-Areer. He was killed on the 7th December 2023 in a strike on Gaza. He talks about his life growing up under bombardment, and how education was vital for him. Both his own, and educating students. Teaching them not to hate, and to shatter prejudices. Throughout all of this he was fighting Israel's constant oppression. "This shall pass" is repeated throughout his entry. And now, for him, it has. As he rests in power.

I listened to this collection via an audiobook from NetGalley, which is being published on the day of writing this (12th March - yeah a while ago, I popped the review up elsewhere on the day to make sure this book got the traction don't worry!), and I enjoyed the audiobook experience. Amin El Gamal and Hanne Rickert narrate the audio, and having a man and a women narrating the writings from their own genders really made a difference. Unfortunately it did mean that some sections blended into each other, alternating the narrator between stories is the best resolution for this and something I hope is done in any future recordings of this book.

This is a brilliant book, is covers everything that one who is looking into the plight of Palestine might need. A combination of art, of thoughts, and of real action, summarises everything that makes up Gaza. The voices of those living through this genocide deserve to be heard, and whilst I deplore the circumstances, I'm grateful that they are now being listened to by the wider global community.

Light in Gaza is a blend of poetry, academic analysis, and personal accounts on life in Gaza and the past, present, and future of Palestinian people. It gave me a lot of insight to the history on the occupation of Palestine and the systematic oppression Gazans face as a result. Some of the essays went into detail on the rich culture and connection to the land through agriculture, which was essential to deepening my understanding of the Palestinians struggle for freedom. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand more about Gaza and Palestine, but struggles to read non-fiction.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the audiobook!

I want to start by saying I’m from Palestine, so this is an own-voice review as well.

I really enjoyed this book. Especially in a time like this, I think it’s a very important read. If you are someone who is interested in learning more about what’s happening and really getting the stories from the people living them, this is the right book for you. The first essay is by the recent lot martyred author Refaat Al-Areer, and so many other great authors contributed as well. They are all important works and I am glad to have gotten the chance to read them.

As far as the audiobook itself, it was a very pleasant experience to listen to. I like listening to audiobooks but if you don’t like them I’d still recommend you read the book.

What an important time to fill my ears with stories that share lived experience beyond what I can find online. I loved diving into this at such a time as this. I hope more folks take time to listen and sit with the words of this book.

This is not what I was expecting but it was really educational. The essays on history, architecture, farming, AI harms and uses, and lack of book access and media censorship were very interesting. This is an important read for those who want to dive deeper into the challenges Gazans have been facing for decades.

Such an important read, especially now with the genocide occurring in Palestine.

In all honesty, I knew very little about the ongoing occupation of Palestine prior to October 7th, 2023. I still don't know the full history, but this listen (audiobook) provided better context and understanding, especially hearing directly from Palestinians and their descendents. I feel like the best way to learn about Palestinians' history and stories is by listening directly from them. Listen to what happened in 1948, to what is currently happening now in occupied Palestine; listen to their hopes and dreams. This read/listen is a mixture of history and lessons, direct accounts, current dreams and stories, and what they hope to see in the coming years.

Also, the narrators were great!!

This book provided such incredible insight into life in Gaza and I appreciated getting to know more about how Palestinians feel and go through in their daily life in Gaza. Each chapter is a different essay or poem written by a different Gazan author. The tonal shifts in this book can be pretty abrupt. I also found the persuasive essay format a little frustrating in some of the chapters. That being said, it was important to hear the voices of the people and how they feel and understandably incredibly visceral reactions to what they experience under genocide. I highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about life in Gaza especially in the context of ongoing conflict.

Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire edited by Jehad Abusalim; Jennifer Bing; Mike Merryman-Lotze is a great book! I enjoyed how the audiobook had two narrators and both Amin El Gamal and Hanne Rickert were excellent. These essays share personal experiences and histories that shed light on the Palestinian experience in Gaza and also look to the future. I especially liked learning more about how hard it was to build a library in Gaza and to even get the books. This is a difficult but important read.

I am incredibly grateful to have received an audiobook ARC of "Light in Gaza," as I had planned to read the eBook this month. I highly recommend this book, particularly in audiobook format.

"Light in Gaza" covers a wide array of themes—from collective connection to nature and farming, to the importance of ethical housing and the weaponisation of AI, and the potential reclamation of AI as a tool for resistance.

Edited by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, and Mike Merryman-Lotze, and narrated by Amin El Gamal and Hanne Rickert, this collection's most striking aspect is its reminder that the occupation and ethnic cleansing are not new by any means. This collection sheds light not only on the ethnic cleansing and murder of Palestinians at the hands of Israel but also on the realities of day-to-day life under relentless oppression.

With each mention of loss—of human life, of olive trees, of orange trees, or of established family homes or farms—my heart hurt reflecting on the immeasurable loss that has been perpetuated by Israel. Since October alone, over a year after this book was initially compiled, the suffering continues.

The collection is a powerful testament to the resilience of the Palestinian spirit. This truly is a vital read for anyone seeking to understand the realities of life under occupation and the ongoing struggle for justice in Gaza and beyond.

The audiobook's dual narrators enhance the reading experience as you can pick up on the tone and emotion behind stories in a way that only verbal storytelling can. Listening to the audiobook felt like you were hearing from the storytellers themselves. I also appreciated how hearing Arabic phrases spoken aloud within the narrative added to the depth of the personal accounts.

I highly recommend this as a place to start or continue your education around Palestine as this collection is incredibly accessible, varied, and powerful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ARC. All opinions are my own.

Providing myriad voices--academic, artistic, and personal--from Gaza, this anthology offers readers a picture of a culture and geography that is often misrepresented or completely blocked from the media and the arts. The book gave me a strong sense of place, culture, and empathy. I am always surprised by hope in the context of unimaginable brutality, but I found a beautiful thread here. Educational and inspiring, this is a must-read.

This anthology, compiled with support from the American Friends Service Committee, centers the voices and perspectives of Palestinians in and from Gaza as they reflect on the district's past and present while imagining its future. Published in 2022, many of the writers reference Israeli bombardment in 2014 and 2021, and it is a particularly harrowing experience to read their contributions now, in 2024, as Gaza is under far more deadly siege. Less than two years after his essay Gaza Asks: When Shall This Pass? was published in this anthology, poet and activist Refaat Alareer was killed in a strike that also killed his brother, brother's son, sister, and her three children. It's this stark contrast - the scale of death, displacement and structural devastation in today's Gaza and the cautious hope of Palestinians in 2021 and 2022 envisioning futures for another generation - that makes this anthology a challenging read.
While structured loosely around future visions of Gaza, the essays, poems and reflections range from highly academic to deeply personal, covering the lived environment and home construction, agrarian practices and the future of farming in historic Palestine, the use of AI in Israel's surveillance and oppression of Palestinians in Gaza, and so much more. The scale of creativity and resilience required for those living under military occupation and blockade is staggering - how do you build a home when you can't use concrete, how do you run a business when you don't have consistent access to electricity, how do you stock a library when you can't order books, how do you survive when arbitrary borders separate you from family, healthcare, employment, education and freedom? For those who've never experienced this level of surveillance and restricted movement - not to mention the constant threat of aerial attack, search and siezure, or imprisonment - the description of Gaza as the world's largest open-air prison takes shape into something visceral. By the time you get to the second-to-last essay, Let Me Dream, by Israa Mohammed Jamal, you begin to better understand the reality of multi-generational trauma and how it shapes those attempting to build lives in Gaza.
Another through-line in this anthology is Gaza's current population density and large refugee population. I hadn't realized that around 70% of those living in Gaza are refugees, and I appreciated how intentionally each contributor engages with the legacy and continuation of the Nakba in shaping Gaza's present and future.
I highly recommend this anthology to anyone interested in learning more about Gaza - its history, its present, and its people dreaming of survival. Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced listener's copy - I'm grateful that this new audiobook recording will make this collection more accessible to readers.

This was such a heartbreaking and beautiful collection of OwnVoices essays depicting both first hand experiences and historical information of life in Gaza under occupation.

Light in Gaza is one of the most impactful
books I have ever read and it will sit on my heart for a lifetime.

Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media for the gifted copy.

I don't know why I thought this collection of stories was going to be beautiful poetry with metaphors. I had not realized that despite my recent research and education journey about the oppression of the Palestinian people and the visual scenes of bombed cities, unalived families, and orphaned children that I still had rose colored glasses to be snatched off. But they were snatched.

This read was so incredibly educational and eye opening. I have previously read other recommended books on the Palestine Reads book and though I had a idea of how horrible the Palestinian people have been treated over the last 75 years. So, the moment a document from the 1800's was referenced, breath left my lungs. Because ONCE again this runs soo much deeper than I had realized.

This book needs to be a required read in every history and government course. It was well written and flowed very well. Despite the wealth of education on the pages at no point did I feel like this was a textbook. I enjoyed it greatly and highly recommend to anyone that wants to become more informed on the Ethnic Cleansing of the INDIGINOUS PALESTINAIAN PEOPLE and Israel's Apartheid Practices.

“Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire” is a powerful anthology edited by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, and Michael Merryman-Lotze. It imaginatively explores the future of Gaza beyond the cruelties of occupation and apartheid. Home to two million people, Gaza continues to endure suffocating conditions imposed by Israel. This wide-ranging collection features works by Palestinian writers and artists, centering their voices in the ongoing struggle for liberation and justice. From personal reflections to political analysis, it delves into Gaza’s humanity, resilience, and dreams for a better tomorrow.

First of all, I want to thank NetGalley, to the authors and the publisher for offering me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review - I'm honestly very honoured.

In my defence, until quite recently I wasn't aware of the whole thing that's happening in the Gaza Strip/ Palestine and Israel or why. It's not like something you learn in school or public knowledge and I understand now why.

This book it's heartbreaking and really good to understand the side of the story from real Palestinian people who lived and/or hopefully still live in Gaza, considering the latest escalations.

Fortunately or unfortunately this book doesn't mention the latest news but overall this book deserves to be read by everyone, to at least learn something that's real and what normal people have to go through daily just to live their lives.