Recognizing the Stranger

"Extraordinary and amazingly erudite. Hammad shows how art and especially literature can be much, much more revealing than political writing." -- Rashid Khalidi
From the award-winning novelist of The Parisian and Enter Ghost comes a profound essay and new afterword on narrative turning points and the Palestinian struggle for freedom
Isabella Hammad, author of The Parisian and Enter Ghost, delivered the Edward W. Said Lecture at Columbia University nine days before October 7th, 2023. The text of Hammad's seminal speech and her afterword written in the early weeks of 2024 together make up a passionate appraisal of the war on Palestine during what feels like a turning point in the narrative of human history. Moving and erudite, Hammad writes from within the moment, giving voice to the Palestinian struggle for freedom. Recognizing the Stranger is a brilliant melding of literary and cultural analysis by one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.