Palestinian writer Atef Abu Saif is a talented and insightful political scientist, novelist, short-story writer, and editor who lives in Gaza:<\/em><\/p>\n 1. Still Life: Scenes in Gaza Time<\/a>\u00a0(2006),\u00a0<\/strong>translated by William Hutchins.<\/p>\n This excerpt begins:<\/p>\n He discovered suddenly that Gaza had a sea \u2014 a big sea, too. It was blue \u2014 like a dark-colored painting \u2014 and in the evening the sun resembled a giant orange plunging into the watery abyss as it disappeared into the sea.<\/p>\n Also on WWB, read Abu Saif\u2019s \u201cThe City and the Write<\/a>r\u201d interview about Gaza with Nathalie Handal.<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> An excerpt from\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>The Drone Eats with Me<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(2014),\u00a0<\/strong>written originally in English.<\/p>\n The children have barely slept in days. Nor has anyone. Sometimes a couple of hours just isn\u2019t enough, especially when the little sleep you get is stretched thin with anxiety. Worry plays like a lightning storm behind your eyelids whenever you close them. Only when that stops do your hands start to relax. Then, finally, sleep starts to gather around you, slowly, like a gentle whirlwind, circling you and your loved ones.<\/p>\n Another excerpt was published by \u201cShort Story Project<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Also written in 2014:<\/p>\n \u2018I do not want to be a number\u2019 \u2013 Atef Abu Saif in The Slate<\/a>. 3. Discussing\u00a0<\/strong>Book of Gaza<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/em>the collection of Gazan short stories he edited, and to which he was also a contributor (2014).<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arablit.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/08\/cover-the-drone-sleeps-with-me-comma-press-ltd.jpg?w=174&h=261\")
This book, a harrowing and memorable chronicle of family life during a siege, was written during the 2014 bombardment of Gaza. The excerpt on LitHub opens:<\/p>\n
\n\u2018The Children Have Barely Slept\u2019 \u2013 Atef Abu Saif in Guernica Magazine.<\/a>
\n\u2018We wait each night for death to knock at the door\u2019 \u2013 Atef Abu Saif in The Sunday Times<\/a>.
\n\u2018Life Under Fire: Five Days in Gaza\u2019 \u2013 from Atef Abu Saif\u2019s war diary in The Guardian<\/a>.
\n\u2018Eight Days in Gaza: Life and Death in the Gaza Strip\u2019 \u2013 from Atef Abu Saif\u2019s war diary in The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n