Our Wounds Tell Who We Are

When the sky appears gray,
and I see a rose suddenly emerge from the cracks of a wall...
I don't say the sky is Gray,
but I gaze at the rose
and I say to it: what a beautiful day.

These are the words of Palestinian Poet, Mahmoud Darwish, which always inspire me and guide me to the right path. Hope and optimism should always be on our minds. I met Ziyad Khadaash many years ago and I fell in love with his stories and I have read all of his books and enjoyed them. His storytelling approach is brilliant and creative and his stories should reach a wider audience. This is what led me to offer to translate one of his books.

This book "Our Wounds Tell Who We Are" is full of Palestinian real stories that I and the majority of Palestinian can relate to. I had the pleasure of translating them despite the linguist and cultural challenges. I hope I was successful in bridging the cap and transferring the creative ideas present in these stories to new audiences.

I started this note with words from Mahmoud Darwish and I am a believer that Ziyad is our next Darwish.

Fayeq Oweis
Translator