leena aboutaleb
leena aboutaleb is an Egyptian and Palestinian writer who asks you to commit to the Palestinian liberation struggle. She is the author of Thalassa (Game Over Books, 2026). Her pamphlet, Expeditions of Projection, was released in 2023 (VIBE). Her film, Oracle, coproduced with Youssef ElNahas, debuted in Venice, 2025. She is a Brooklyn Poets fellow, Kundiman fellow, and Tin House Scholar.
Reading List
Author’s Note for “Khushkhash”
“Khushkhash” emerged in Ramadan 2023. I was dazed in Amman’s heat, shopping for ingredients to break my fast during the evenings. Walking through the market, I began to imagine a Palestinian woman parallel to myself.
Khushkhash
The great thing about my country, your grandfather’s country, I tell our halo-kissed daughters, is that we have endless water that cuts the world so we can grow in the rain, sprouting as tall as our rice.