ZINES
“These vivid and expressive poems show such a scope of humanity, from despair, to hope, the desire for liberation, and the desire to simply disappear. I felt so many things reading these poems, and I am honored to have been a part of this project….”— Ken Tanaka, illustrator of Aerie Tales
Editions: Japanese, Chinese, Italian, English, German, French, Catalan.
“With a heart that sees and a soul that contemplates, Sondos has crafted a book that invites readers on an exploratory journey into existence, where texts resonate with both mind and heart. Come, embark on a voyage through The Heart's Gaze. We wish you a fascinating read.” —inner pages, The Heart’s Gaze
Editions: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese.
“This half-letter size zine collects Shahd’s writing, both nonfiction and poetry, about her experiences of the most recent years of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Her writing immortalizes some of what has been lost, with precision and grace.”—inner pages, The Writings of Shahd Al-Naami.
Editions: English, German, Spanish, Italian.
“Shahd Alnaami’s writings put word after word to the totality of loss, the dignity of grief—words wholly lived, forged in the conviction of endurance. Composed a year and three months after Al-Aqsa Flood, a year and three months into the Zionist entity’s escalated genocide in Gaza, these pieces serve as an archive of daily missing, loving, remembering, writing, always resisting. They are confessional, documentary, gritty with hope. Here, Alnaami finds strength in her own story, as she insists: ‘Words have the power to bring life to what others try to erase.’”—Jody Chan, author of sick (Black Lawrence Press)
“Every word in this zine carries our hearts, our grief, and our defiance. We are human, just like you, with dreams that stretch beyond borders. Remember us, feel with us, and know that even in the face of genocide, we endure—and our voices will not be silenced. Thank you!”—Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi
“I am a short story writer trying to find beauty amidst this chaos. I believe that beauty lives longer than ugliness.”—Dima Maher Ashour
“Dima Maher Ashour’s ‘Questions on my Mind’ is a beautiful and devastating work that asks the most urgent questions of our time. ‘I look up and see no tents, no / occupation. Why don’t we live in the sky?’ the clear-eyed narrator asks in its opening page. In precise and captivating lines, Ashour voices the despair of grieving one’s home, the heartbreak of homesickness, and the righteous anger in the face of Israel’s ongoing genocide: ‘Is the door of my house still black? Or is it smeared in the blood of the martyrs in Gaza? Is it now a disheveled grey, covered with ashes of destruction?’ From meditative recollections of daily life in Gaza that offer a richness of details to a litany of unanswerable questions implicating each of us, this zine is a testament to the resilience of a people under siege and the sustaining power of language.”
—Cassidy McFadzean, Author of Crying Dress, Drolleries, and Hacker Packer, and Poet-in-Residence at Arc Poetry Magazine.
“Dima Maher’s language is powerful and poignant and her voice must not be missed.”
“The inspiration to write a comic started with my many experiences of displacement, as I left my house next to Al-Shifa Hospital and was then displaced from one place to another and from one tent to another. I thought of the art of comics as an international art to convey the images of our suffering to the whole world, and this is the least of daily suffering.” —Jehad Abu Dayya
“In the midst of the genocide and without any pretense, the charcoal that remains from burning wood to prepare food is the drawing tool that saved me from the whirlpools of drowning while waiting for a ceasefire.” —Esraa El-Banna
“This comic gives us outsiders a small, searing glimpse of life inside the occupation. There are four stark black-and-white panels that will stay with me for a long time, in which an Israeli soldier degrades the protagonist, Farah. Farah is courageous in the face of the soldier’s petty cruelty: she will go on writing, just as the author and illustrator have. May we all have this bravery in the face of genocide. This is an urgent appeal to the world to listen, and a wonderful example of the power of comics.” — Sarah Leavitt, cartoonist and educator, Canada
“Jehad Abu Dayya’s sharp writing and Esraa Al-Banna’s bracing illustration provide an urgent dispatch of grief and steadfastness from the worst horror imaginable. The work of these two artists is a gift -- one the world does not yet deserve, but I hope can one day earn.” —Michael DeForge, Author of Holy Lacrimony, Birds of Maine, Heaven No Hell, and others.
“I write from the heart about the experiences we’ve lived through over the past two years. Enjoy reading. Thank you so much.” —Samah Zaqout, inner pages.
“Samah Zaqout writes with heart and depth about life in Gaza during the genocide, not just about herself but about her community, especially the elders. It’s shocking to realize that such a gentle poetic soul has witnessed so much terror, and yet here, in her words and drawings, we are gifted her unique vision, laced with hope and fierce determination . A life-changing read.”—Susan Muaddi Darraj, author of Behind You Is the Sea, Farah Rocks, A Curious Land, and more.
*Best Political Zine, Wellington Zinefest 2025, NZ
“A personal zine, but by a writer whose circumstances makes their mere existence a political statement. Zaqout arranges words to perfection and the Zines for Gaza project demonstrates the potential of zines as a vehicle for international solidarity and understanding.” —judge statement
“When the simple act of a father going to buy falafel becomes one he might not return from. A moment of terror described waiting for his reply.
This zine captures a series of vignettes of family life that happen within the pure horror of war. The devastation of losing your home over and over again, the waiting, the silence. Personal experience punctuated with statistical data that quietly lays out simply one family’s life amongst the endless cycle of loss.
Zines have for a long time been a medium for voices that do not fit in the mainstream, that are inherently political just by way of existence. This zine fits firmly within this legacy and articulates for us the reader what it is to be a writer who belongs to Gaza. A gift from the farthest seas.” —judge statement
“This zine is born out of memory, rubble, and the fragility of survival. It is an attempt to archive Gaza beyond statistics and headlines — to preserve the voices, streets, and intimate details of a city under erasure. As a writer and survivor, I collect fragments of what war tries to silence: the neighbor calling from a window, the smell of morning coffee, the echo of schools, the cracks of the pavement. This zine is not only about loss, but also about the persistence of life and the refusal to be forgotten.” —Mariam Khateeb, inner pages.
“I dedicate my work to the innocent souls of Gaza’s martyrs whose lives were taken unjustly, without reason or mercy.” —dedication, inner pages.