Palestinian-American poet Suheir Hammad.

The literary tradition in Palestine is surprisingly rich and diverse, given the current population of only 9 million Palestinians and the fact that a distinct Palestinian national identity solidified only in the early twentieth century. Palestinian writers in a variety of genres -the essay, novel, poem, short story and play - have been prolific, and some Palestinian authors are among the most popular and widely read in the larger Arab world. Chief among them is Edward Said (1935-2003), one of the most prominent public intellectuals of the twentieth century, who profoundly influenced thought throughout the globe in a variety of fields - literary criticism, anthropology, Middle East studies, Islamic studies and cultural studies. His seminal 1978 book Orientalism is seen as having given rise to the new field of postcolonial studies. Said published over twenty books and countless essays in literary criticism, politics, and music criticism, and exhibited dazzling erudition in each of these areas.

Although some Palestinian authors, such as the renowned poet Mahmoud Darwish (b. 1942), have written almost exclusively within one genre, many have crossed genres. For example, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (1920-1994) wrote acclaimed novels, poetry, and works of literary criticism. Mu'in Busaysu (1927-1984) was both a poet and playwright. Most Palestinians have written in Arabic, although some have written in English (including Said and Jabra) or other European languages. Several Palestinian citizens of Israel have written in Hebrew. Many works in Arabic are now available in English, in part due to the work of Salma Khadra Jayyusi (b. 1927), an eminent poetess and academic, who also translated, edited, introduced, and promoted tens of books from Arabic through the Project of Translation from Arabic, which she founded in the mid-seventies. Her Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature is a massive compendium of many Palestinian authors from all genres, and her introduction is a must read for any serious student of the topic.

Several developments stimulated the emergence of Palestinian literature toward the end of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, especially increasing educational opportunities and the introduction of the printing press. The period was one of considerable intellectual and political foment, as the concept of nationalism began to strain the ties binding the multi-national Ottoman Empire. In Palestine, emergent Arab nationalism was lent a particular local twist by the confrontation with Zionism (the political movement to create a Jewish state in Palestine).

Numerous newspapers were established after liberalizing reforms in the latter years of Ottoman rule, such as al-Karmil (Carmel), published in Haifa in 1908, Filistin (Palestine) founded in Jaffa in 1911, and ad-Dustur (The Constitution), set up in Jerusalem in 1912. The pages of these dailies were filled with essays alerting Palestinian readers to the dangers of Zionism, and, after the advent of British rule in 1917, protesting British policies in support of the growing Jewish settler community. Palestinian writers were frequent contributors to periodicals in other Arab countries, and participated actively in the general revival of the Arabic language and loosening of literary forms that were sweeping the Arab world at the time. Khalil as-Sakakini (1878-1953) and Muhammad Is'af an-Nashshashibi (1882-1948) were two of the most prominent and productive prose writers of this period, who respectively introduced modernizing styles and modernizing ideas to their many readers.

Historically, poetry has been the most popular literary genre in Palestine and the Arab world. Early Palestinian poets such as Ibrahim Tuqan (1905-1941), Abd ar-Rahim Mahmoud (1913-1948) and Abd al-Karim al-Karmi (1907-1980) combined more traditional love themes with fiery nationalist sentiment, sarcastic denunciations of corrupt Palestinian and other Arab leaders, and trenchant criticism of British authority and its complicity with Zionism. Mahmoud was killed fighting against the Zionist takeover of Palestine in 1948, initiating a long tradition among Palestinian writers of direct political action, and of paying for their convictions with imprisonment or death.

Palestinian literature entered a distinct phase in the aftermath of the Nakba (the "catastrophe"), the term used by Palestinians to describe the emergence of the state of Israel and the resulting destruction and fragmentation of Palestinian society. Both prose and poetry reflected the deep anguish of exile - the fate of over 700,000 Palestinians forced from their homes in 1948. In short order, the sense of isolation and subjugation experienced by the Palestinian citizens of Israel - who were cut off from relatives and compatriots and lived under military government for the first eighteen years of Israel's existence - also was given voice in a burgeoning literature.

After Israel's 1967 military conquest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (and also the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt and Golan Heights in Syria), the experience of harsh military occupation inspired much expressive literature. As the Palestine Liberation Organization was co-opted by guerrilla groups after 1967 and turned from an instrument of the Arab states into the resistance organization of the Palestinian people, "resistance literature" also flourished, glorifying the exploits of the fighters, and expressing defiance and steadfastness against Israeli power.

Aside from the post-Nakba Palestinian writing reflecting the experiences of different Palestinian communities - citizens of Israel, subjects of military occupation, and those living in exile outside Palestine - another distinctive feature of this period was the growing prominence of Palestinian women writers. One of the earliest and most eminent was Fadwa Tuqan (1917-2003), whose first collection of poetry was published in 1946. Tuqan composed distinctly nationalist poems, but also wrote more openly of love and passion than earlier women writers.

Nablus-born Sahar Khalifa (b. 1941) is, perhaps, the foremost Palestinian novelist, and one of the most accomplished writers living in the Occupied Territories. Her six novels have been translated into many languages, and her 1975 work Wild Thorns, depicting life under Israeli military occupation, garnered international recognition. Khalifa writes with a strong feminist sensibility, challenging the patriarchal aspects of Palestinian and broader Arab society, and arguing that emancipation of women is an integral part of the struggle for national liberation.

Palestinian citizens of Israel have had a substantial impact on the literary scene. Among the most important are Emile Habibi (1921-1993), Tewfiq Zayyad (1929-1994) and Anton Shammas (b. 1950). Habibi's 1969 work Sudasiyat al-Ayam as-Sitta (Sextet of the Six Days) poignantly portrays the meeting of Palestinian residents of Israel with those from the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the first time after nearly twenty years of separation - a "reunion" brought about when Israel conquered the remainder of historic Palestine in 1967. Habibi's 1974 masterpiece, al-Waqa'I' al-Gharibah fi Ikhtifa' Sa'id Abi an-Nahs al-Mutasha'il (The Strange Events in the Disappearance of Saeed, the Pessoptimist) is a novel incorporating black humor and farce in depicting the precarious status of the Palestinian citizens of Israel, and was one of the most stylistically innovative and influential works in Arabic literature of the late twentieth century. Zayyad, a political activist and poet in the "resistance literature" mode, was educated in Moscow and introduced works of Russian literature to Palestinian audiences. In 1974, Zayyad was elected to the Israeli Knesset, and in 1975, he became mayor of Nazareth, the largest Palestinian city in Israel. He died in a car accident in 1994, returning home after visiting PLO chairman Yasser Arafat in Jericho. Anton Shammas, now a resident of New York City, has written in both Arabic and Hebrew. His 1986 novel in Hebrew Arabescot (Arabesques) created a stir within Israel due not only to its themes, dealing with the cultural violence of Zionist discourse on the Palestinian citizens of Israel, but to the sheer beauty of his Hebrew writing.

Mahmoud Darwish is undoubtedly the most celebrated Palestinian poet, and his works have seen more translations than any other Palestinian author. Born in Palestine in 1942, Mahmoud fled with his family to Lebanon, before returning surreptitiously a year later. His natal village, Birwa, had been destroyed, and a Jewish settlement erected in its place. Mahmoud took up journalism, and published his first collection of poetry at the age of nineteen. He was active in Palestinian community politics until his permanent departure from Israel in 1971. By then his literary stature and reputation within Palestinian national politics had grown, and he eventually occupied a number of important positions within the cultural branches of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Like many other Palestinian poets, Darwish's early works focused on love themes, and later shifted to nationalist concerns. Darwish, however, fused these two strands, often equating the loss of Palestine with the loss of a beloved woman. Darwish continues to live in exile, shuttling between Ramallah and Amman, Jordan.

Other prominent Palestinian writers in exile include journalist/novelist Ghassan Kanafani (1936-1972), and journalist/poet Kamal Nasser (1925-1973). Kanafani was born in Akka (Acre), Palestine, and fled to Syria in 1948. As a youth he became a teacher in a United Nations Relief and Works Agency [see Background Briefings], and became affiliated with the Arab Nationalist Movement (a group advocating political unity of the entire Arab world), and later its offspring, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Eventually settling in Beirut, Kanafani edited the PFLP's journal al-Hadaf and published several highly acclaimed short novels. Perhaps his most famous work was Rijal fi Shams (Men in the Sun) in 1962, describing three Palestinian refugees' tragic attempt to sneak into Kuwait to find work, and highlighting the Palestinians' sense of abandonment and victimization by the Arab governments. Another widely read Kanafani work that has been adapted and frequently performed as a play, was the 1967 novella Aa'id ila Haifa (Returnee to Haifa), about a Palestinian refugee in the West Bank who returns to his family home in Haifa after the 1967 war. Although never involved in the military operations of the PFLP, Kanafani was assassinated in Beirut in July, 1972, by a car bomb set by Israeli agents. His young niece died with him. This followed an attack on Lod Airport in Tel Aviv committed by members of the Japanese Red Army, in which twenty six were killed, and for which the PFLP claimed responsibility.

Kamal Nasser, founder of a literary journal in Ramallah after the 1948 war, was a member of the Ba'ath party (a pan-Arab political party founded in Syria and with broad appeal in the Eastern Arab world in the nineteen fifties and sixties) of the Jordanian Parliament until his expulsion during martial law imposed in 1956. Banished by Israel from his home in 1967, Nasser relocated in Beirut, where he became a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, and editor of the PLO's Filasteen ath-Thawra (Palestine the Revolution). Nasser published an influential volume of poetry in 1960, Jirah Tughanni (Singing Wounds), and penned hundreds of prose articles. Nasser was assassinated in his Beirut apartment in April, 1973. It is reputed that the person who actually placed the gun in Nasser's mouth and pulled the trigger was Ehud Barak, then member of an Israeli hit squad, and disguised for the operation as a woman. Barak later served as Israel's prime minister (1998-2001). Nasser's poetry and prose were posthumously published in two collections in 1974.

One of the most exciting recent developments in the Palestinian literary scene is the emergence of the distinctive voice of Palestinian American writers, who write in English and often synthesize contemporary forms and themes in their diverse works. Poetess and playwright Suheir Hammad, http://www.suheirhammad.com/SuheirHammad/index.html#] was born in 1973 in Amman, Jordan of Palestinian refugee parents, and subsequently immigrated to the United States. Her 1996 poetry collection Born Palestinian, Born Black explored affinities between Palestinian and African-American experiences, while her Drops of This Story was a memoir of her life as an immigrant in a predominantly African-American and poor section of Brooklyn. Nathalie Handal [http://www.nathaliehandal.com/], a prominent Palestinian-American poetess and playwright, edited a collection of poetry by Arab women and now teaches at Columbia University. Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952) has written poetry, essays, and music. Among her more than twenty volumes of authored and edited works are two acclaimed novels for children, Sitti's Secrets (1994) and Habibi (1997).

Ibrahim Fawwal is a native of Ramallah, Palestine, but fled his home, like many others, in 1948. Eventually settling in the United States, and pursuing a career in film, Fawwal now teaches at the University of Alabama - Birmingham and at Birmingham-Southern College. His 1998 novel On the Hills of God was based on personal observation and extensive historical research, and movingly evokes the period in Palestine directly prior to the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. It traces the life of a young Palestinian Christian man as he attempts to negotiate friendships and romance in the rapidly changing environment of pre-war Palestine, and relates the tragic experiences of the Palestinians as they left their homes for permanent exile.