While poetry is not my go-to genre, I saw the cover and description of this anthology on NetGalley and immediately requested.

I found this collection to be beautiful, thought-provoking, haunting, and demanding to be heard. Art is a crucial, necessary factor in any resistance, and this anthology is a perfect example why.

Thank you to NetGalley, the editors, and authors for sending me a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Poetry soars above silence, poetry shatters ignorance, poetry flies into the space that is hope and light."

We Were Seeds is a moving collection of poetry, art, and photography featuring 60 poets from around the world. These poems are full of painful and powerful imagery and language sure to challenge and change any reader. This anthology is screaming, "end the genocide" with its full chest on every single page.

We Were Seeds captures the feeling of watching a genocide unfold on Instagram. Present are guilt and confusion, calls to action, consequences of inaction, humanization, and so much emotion you can literally feel it like static electricity against your skin.

An important collection for anyone to read and reflect on.

This gorgeous collection of short prose and poetry is outstanding. Each individual's contribution to it means that there is passion, voice and agency. I feel the outrage, the emotions of dispair and the fire in everyone's guts for wanting a free Palestine. Some standouts: Etymology of a Watermelon, My Sakura Memoir, and Recipe for Colonisation. The amount of pain and detail in each piece rings true. Thank god for this collection. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I love supporting own voices in any capacity. This was a great way to see how people directly impacted by the war are feeling and how they are using writing as an outlet for their pain and frustrations. Free palestine <3

4.5 stars.

We Were Seeds is a brilliantly done collection of poetry about Palestine, and the wider global questions the genocide raises. Each poet had a unique voice, and there were no poems that felt badly written. The authors come from a diverse, wide range of backgrounds, and all have different styles of poetry writing, leading to a compelling read since you always want to know what the next person is going to say and how. As someone who is ethnically Jewish, I also really loved the handful of poems from other Jewish folks who are also angry at this genocide being committed “for us.” Never again means never again, and I love the power of poetry to make these atrocities clear and concise for the reader. I definitely recommend this anthology, and I love that it is benefiting Palestinians who are still struggling today.

The only reason this isn’t a five star is because there were a couple poems that felt out of place, since they weren’t explicitly about Palestine- I’m sure they were connected somehow, but it wasn’t clear as the reader. There also was an AI image which feels disingenuous to use considering the widespread issues concerning AI generated images and the impact they have on the planet. But, other than these small issues, this was still a lovely collection that I want to buy multiple copies of for everyone in my life.

An anthology of poetry from 60 writers all over the world published to benefit Palestine.

At once heartbreaking and hopeful, this is a moving call for peace and an end to the genocide in Palestine. Each piece brought something unique to the table, but together they were a call to witness, to action, to speak.

All proceeds from sales will be donated to The Sameer Project and mutual aids on Gaza Funds.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Querencia Press for the opportunity to review this arc.

Thank you to Querencia via NetGalley for providing me with this ARC! A beautiful, tragic, and yet still hopeful show of support for Palestine. I was moved by so many of the pieces included in this collection, and was in awe of the inclusivity of the anthology.

I got this an arc on Netgalley and it will come out this month. A gorgeous book of poems about Palestine that captivated my heart and spirit. Free 🇵🇸

Really excellent purpose for creating this compilation, but the poems were a bit repetitive. Overall I’m really glad it exists but could have used more editing.

‘We Were Seeds’ is a collection of poetry and art protesting the genocide of the Palestinians and the horrors faced daily by Gazans in the times we’re living in. This book is a gathering of voices - of poets, artists, and human beings - determined to keep humanity alive, despite so much lived experience of collective failure. Most importantly, proceeds from this book go to supporting Gazans, a people who ceaselessly strive for life. At the time of this review, two of this collection’s Palestinian contributors are displaced and links to provide mutual aid can be found on Querencia Press’ website.

“Poetry soars above silence, poetry shatters ignorance, poetry flies into the space that is hope and light.” - from the Afterword

What I found most powerful about this collection is the gathering of poets and artists from various parts of the world. Historically, it has taken fervent, disciplined global solidarity and action for us to stand a chance at halting atrocities we know should have never happened in the first place. Capitalistic and colonial greed expect us to look away, to forget, and in doing so, they allow violent cycles to repeat themselves. It is us, civilians and especially the more marginalized of us, who pay the highest price.

Here are people who are sharpening their voices against harm, who believe something else is possible, who are fighting in their own ways, for violent cycles to break. In not looking away from difficult realities, hope and light get their chance at survival. The bridging of voices in solidarity with Palestine here turns into direct action with proceeds going to fundraisers. Here is life, resisting erasure.

The poetry and art in this collection are fierce, soft, powerful, devastating, and serve to keep our most vulnerable memories alive within wider collectives. They don’t offer catharsis - after all, the catastrophes have yet to ease up - but they do offer space for empathy, grief, and rage to be felt, seen, heard, and gathered. A crucial read for those who believe in the better, braver aspects of humanity.

Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia Press for making this eARC available for reviewing. Please check the Storygraph entry for content notices and trigger warnings.

I hate that this is a poetry collection that must exist but I love that it does exist. So many of the poets put into words exactly how it has felt watching the genocide of the Palestinian people through a screen and the callousness of the billions of people who see it and simply do not care or even worse, cheer it on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Querencia press for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

'Genocide starts with playing God'

We were seeds is an anthology of 60+ poems and prose from a range of authors across the world with one purpose in mind - helping and benefitting the victims of the genocide in Palestine.

To call this an anthology a difficult read would be an understatement. I started crying on the first page and don't think I stopped.Through their work these authors show the reader a mere glimpse into the unspeakable horrors of everyday life of the people in Palestine. Through their fear, death, pain and loss. From the innocent children who had to grow up too fast, to the pregnant woman terrified of bringing a child into this world, to the babe born into a world that is too loud; bombs dropping all around them.

'Isn't nature so wonderfully cruel
To turn dysfunction into survival?'

Two poems that stuck out to me the most in this collection are 'A native watching Gaza' by Savannah Jade and 'Audience' by Devon Webb. Both challenge the western, and frankly white, perspective of watching history repeat itself again and again. Why do we condemn the past and call those atrocities yet stay ignorant to the same thing happening in our present? These and many others implore the reader to advocate for a free Palestine and not turn a blind eye until their freedoms are met.

'I ask you friends, please don't avert your eyes
Heed what ancient olive trees feel and see
And pray for the means to salve the wounds, the cries'

Hearing Palestinian voices as they fight for liberation is extremely important. We cannot turn a blind eye to the atrocities. All proceeds of this anthology on release will aid charities helping Palestine.