Writing for the Children of Palestine: A Conversation with Mahmoud Shukair

by Shereen MalherbePhoto by Yousef Khanfar

The beginning of this interview has been shared from World Literature Today’s November Issue. The interview is conducted over four parts, shedding light on the life and work of prolific children’s author, Mahmoud Shukair. The piece is also illustrated with photographs from the world-renowned photographer, Yousef Khanfar. Visit World Literature Today here, to read & view the piece in full.

Writing for the Children of Palestine: A Conversation with Mahmoud Shukair in World Literature Today.

Mahmoud Shukair is not only enlightening the Arab world on Palestine, he is enlightening the world on themselves. —Yousef Khanfar, founder of the Palestine Prize Foundation

Mahmoud Shukair is a literary giant in Arab and Palestinian literature, with a vast and impressive catalog of literary works spanning over eighty titles, published around the world in twelve different languages. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Mahmoud Darwish Prize for Freedom and Creativity (2011) and the Jerusalem Prize for Culture and Creativity (2015). His 2016 novel Praise for the Women of the Family was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize.

In my first introduction to him, he is seated on a sofa, with a white curtain hanging over a barred window as the soft twilight of his beloved Jerusalem streams through. He looks sophisticated in a blue shirt and beige jacket. A gold-framed picture of his family hangs on the wall behind him. 

He lives in Jabal al-Mukaber, a suburb of Jerusalem, twenty meters away from the house he was born in. I introduce him in this way, because to understand Shukair is to understand his profound connection to Jerusalem, an integral part of his life’s work. Yet his life’s work and the act of writing have had profound, life-changing impacts on his safety and freedom. I seek to discover what makes a literary giant continue to write against all odds and under a brutal occupation.

I believe there are many writers in one man, and after studying Shukair’s body of work, I discerned four stages in his literary life. It was a great honor to discover more about his life, work, and the celebration of his achievements, most recently winning the Palestine Prize for Literature.

* * *Part 1: Writing for Palestinian Children Living under Occupation

Shereen Malherbe: Mahmoud Shukair, congratulations on becoming a Palestine Prize Foundation laureate. The Palestine Prize Foundation’s role is “to preserve, protect, and promote the Palestinian dreams and achievements.”

Mahmoud Shukair: Thank you, fellow author Shereen Malherbe, and thanks to the Palestine Prize Foundation for honoring me with this award.

Malherbe: As a prolific writer for children, can you tell us how you feel about preserving Palestinians’ dreams for children who grow up in a lifetime under occupation?

Shukair: Maintaining the dream of Palestinian children born under occupation is never an easy task, particularly when those children are being starved, killed, and subjected to genocide, as is currently the situation in the Gaza Strip. However, I have been keen, in my work writing fiction for children and young adults, to revive the dream of a free homeland in which the children of Palestine enjoy freedom and security. I have always taken care to instill in kids a love of the land, the natural world, and their homeland through concrete, palpable details that they can grasp.

Malherbe: Can you give us some insight into the struggles Palestinian children face? What did you witness?

Shukair: Children in Palestine are experiencing horrific acts of cruelty never seen before on any other child in the world. In Gaza, the starvation of Palestinian children is a deliberate practice that has resulted in a high death toll from malnutrition and insufficient food, particularly milk.

There are children dying due to lack of medication, others killed in bombardments that target civilian homes, and some who remain alive as amputees and orphans after the bombing targets their families.

Due to the genocide that is presently occurring in Gaza, Palestinian children are experiencing trauma, shock, and numerous psychological crises. These kids require medical attention, psychological support, and creative writing that addresses their weary and traumatized souls so they can return to their regular selves.

Malherbe: How does your writing help do this?

Shukair: I try to include an element of enjoyment in all the stories and novels I write for young readers. Even when I write about the brutal practices of the occupation soldiers, I take care to convey it with some calm and without excessive expressions of sadness and grief in order to avoid putting the child in a state of sadness and frustration. I do not encourage placing the child in a state of misery resulting from difficult social and national circumstances, so that he remains optimistic and hopeful for a safe and secure life.

I try to include an element of enjoyment in all the stories and novels I write for young readers

Malherbe: You were also affected by the occupation throughout your life. Can you tell us more about this?

Shukair: When I write for children, I draw inspiration for my stories and novels from what I see and know of the real suffering of children at the hands of the Israeli occupiers. I also draw inspiration from what I was exposed to by the occupation during my childhood. When I was seven years old, my mother woke me up as the sound of shells and bullets rang in my ears. We had to flee our home that night to find safety away from the gunfire after an armed Zionist gang attacked Jabal al-Mukaber, where my family and I were living. We stayed for four months in the eastern part of our village, then returned home. When I returned home, I felt happy, but the fear of losing my home and stability, which had settled deep within me after that bitter experience, has not left me until now.

To read the full interview, visit World Literature Today.