However Fragile
Comforting medicine for hearts that must continue to grow without mending. Tasneem, a brilliant young woman in Gaza, has overcome many obstacles to become a college lecturer, but just as opportunity begins to bloom, a new assault on the Gaza strip begins. Life stops, schools close, and workplaces shutdown. Tasneem is faced with two options: watch her dreams fade into ruin or keep them alive, no matter how fragile and uncertain her heart becomes.
Editions: English, monochrome and coloured print versions.
Dedication
For the tired souls who still keep going.
For every fragile dream that refused to disappear.
For those who stayed, and for those who left carrying home inside them.
Letter to the Reader
To My Gentle Reader,
Life is not about always being happy, successful, and moving forward. Nor is it about always being sad, discouraged, or tired. Life is the quiet coexistence of both.
There will be seasons when the weight feels heavier than you can carry. In those moments, remember: this, too, is a phase. It may not pass quickly, and it may not pass gently, but it will not remain unchanged forever. Believe in yourself, in your abilities, in your decisions, even in your hesitation. Do not regret what you once chose with the heart you had at the time. We cannot return to rewrite the past, and we cannot fully predict what the future holds.
What we truly have is this moment.
Hold it carefully. Live it honestly. Feel it completely. Some days you will feel strong. Other days you will feel fragile. Both are human. Both are real. And neither defines you entirely. If you ever find yourself standing at a crossroads where every choice feels heavy, know that you are not alone in that feeling. Growth does not always look like confidence. Sometimes it looks like trembling and continuing anyway.
Be patient with your becoming.
And when the days grow long and uncertain, when hope feels thin and distant, remember that even the smallest step forward still counts. Keep going, not because it is easy, but because you are capable of more than you think.
With warmth,
Shahd
Sample text and illustration
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About the Author
A Palestinian writer based in Gaza. She is an English literature and translation student at the Islamic University of Gaza, currently living amid the hardship of the genocide.
The first edition of her zine, The Writings of Shahd Alnaami, has traveled to fourteen countries, including the US and UK, Germany, Mexico, Ireland, Serbia, and Portugal. The second edition is ready for distribution and will be translated into Italian, French, Spanish, and German. Shahd contributes works to Al Jazeera, We Are Not Numbers, and Mondoweiss.
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