For many Palestinians, the month of May is associated with the commemoration of the Nakba. But with the increasing popularity of the arts in Palestine, the second annual Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) harmoniously unfolded to the final days of spring, a time also for lavender and lilies. 

As the child of Palestinian refugees who moved to Brooklyn, New York at the age of five, award-winning poet and author Suheir Hammad's early life was infused with the city's bustling hip-hop scene and the angst of Arab dispossession, much of which reveals itself in the depths of her poetry and writing. Although she was born in Amman, Jordan, her childhood was constantly filled with her parents' stories about their ancestral home in Palestine. 

In his new book, Israeli anthropologist and human rights advocate Jeff Halper throws a harsh light on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the point of view of a critical insider. While the Zionist founders of Israel created a vibrant society, culture and economy, they did so at a high price: Israel could not maintain its exclusive Jewish character without imposing on the country's Palestinian population policies of ethnic cleansing, occupation and discrimination. 

Interlink Books has just released the first published collection of poems by acclaimed Palestinian-American poet Sharif S. Elmusa, Flawed Landscape: Poems 1987-2008. Elmusa and his family were forced to flee their native village near the Palestinian port city of Yaffa in 1948, and Elmusa grew up in a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Jericho. The poems in Flawed Landscape provide a moving and vivid expression of his loss of - and immense longing for - his homeland. 

Today marks the end of the traditional forty-day mourning period in Palestine and across the Arab world for one of the Arab world's most adored and influential thinkers - Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish, who passed away at the age of 67 on August 9. Darwish was the recipient of several international awards and his poetry has been translated into 35 languages. On this occasion, the IMEU asked four lovers of his poetry to discuss their experience with his work, the impact Darwish has had on their lives, and what his legacy means to them. 

With this anthology I strived to gather an assortment of work that transcends ethnic, religious, and generational lines in hopes of tapping into the core of what makes us all alike. All of the proceeds of this volume will go towards funding future cultural endeavors in the US that highlight Arab artistry. At a time when conditions for Palestinians have become increasingly devastating, Poets For Palestine seeks to give humanity its proper voice and attempts to further demonstrate the role art takes in transmitting and projecting the enormous weight of compassion. 

In his expertly written book, "Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation", Palestinian-American professor Saree Makdisi provides an exhaustive look at the daily experiences that shape Palestinian life under Israeli occupation. Makdisi teaches English and Comparative Literature at UCLA, and is a frequent commentator on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Makdisi's book catalogues the policies and procedures of occupation from the point of view of its victims, the Palestinians. 

Released in April 2008 by W.W. Norton & Co, Language for a New Century is an unprecedented anthology of poetry from the East. The IMEU spoke recently with Nathalie Handal, the Palesitnian-American poet and playwright who, along with Tina Chang and Ravi Shankar, edited the volume.