The Shadow: Poems for the Children of Gaza

Ahmed Miqdad and John Portelli explore the intricate themes of death, memory, and hope by connecting personal and political losses in Gaza, Palestine, and Malta. In this collection, they confront death as a persistent element - whether through the immediate threat of genocidal violence in Gaza or the slow decline from cancer - and acknowledge each other's pain and vulnerability. This mutual recognition shifts their dialogue from a personal battle with mortality to a collective existential experience, linking individual mortality with shared suffering and understanding. The book is illustrated with art created by Malak Mattar.

About the Author :
Ahmed Miqdad (b. 1985) is a Palestinian poet resident of Gaza. He has a B.A. in English and a Masters in Education. Ahmed is the author of three collections of poetry Gaza Narrates Poetry (2014), Stolen Lives (2015) and When Hope Is not Enough (2019) and a novel Falastin: The Hope of Tomorrow (2018). He has witnessed over three wars and severe aggression by Israeli forces on the Palestinian people since the 1980s with a huge loss of life. He writes and publishes to raise consciousness about the Palestinian cause. John P. Portelli is a Maltese-Canadian author and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. Besides his academic publications, Portelli has published eight collections of poetry, two collections of short stories and a novel. He has also co-edited two collections of contemporary Maltese poetry. His work has been translated and published in English, Italian, French, Arabic, Romanian, Farsi, Spanish, Turkish, Korean, and Ukranian. Six of his publications have been shortlisted for the Malta National Literary Book Prize. Malak Mattar, the artist, was born in 1999 in the Gaza Strip and grew up under occupation and the military siege. While artist-in-residence at An Effort in Central London (December 2023-February 2024), she documented the genocide in her homeland through a series of mostly monochrome drawings and paintings. Mattar wrote and illustrated the bestselling children's book Sitti's Bird (2021). In defiance of strict travel restrictions, Mattar has lectured in universities across the USA (2020-21) and she has had solo exhibitions in Palestine (2015 onwards); Costa Rica (2015); Great Britain (2017, 2018, 2023, 2024); Sweden (2018); USA (2019, 2021); Germany (2020); Lebanon (2021); Portugal (2022) and Italy (2022). Most recently, Malak had two concurrent exhibitions in London, and her monumental painting No Words was shown for the first time (March 2024). John P. Portelli is a Maltese-Canadian author and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. Besides his academic publications, Portelli has published eight collections of poetry, two collections of short stories and a novel. He has also co-edited two collections of contemporary Maltese poetry. His work has been translated and published in English, Italian, French, Arabic, Romanian, Farsi, Spanish, Turkish, Korean, and Ukranian. Six of his publications have been shortlisted for the Malta National Literary Book Prize. Malak Mattar, the artist, was born in 1999 in the Gaza Strip and grew up under occupation and the military siege. While artist-in-residence at An Effort in Central London (December 2023-February 2024), she documented the genocide in her homeland through a series of mostly monochrome drawings and paintings. Mattar wrote and illustrated the bestselling children's book Sitti's Bird (2021). In defiance of strict travel restrictions, Mattar has lectured in universities across the USA (2020-21) and she has had solo exhibitions in Palestine (2015 onwards); Costa Rica (2015); Great Britain (2017, 2018, 2023, 2024); Sweden (2018); USA (2019, 2021); Germany (2020); Lebanon (2021); Portugal (2022) and Italy (2022). Most recently, Malak had two concurrent exhibitions in London, and her monumental painting No Words was shown for the first time (March 2024).