The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) has announced the launch of a new book subscription service dedicated to contemporary and classic works about Palestine. PalFest Bookshelf will deliver six curated titles annually to subscribers. The subscription will feature both newly published works and "older works of enduring relevance," according to PalFest. Subscribers will also have opportunities to participate in author discussions both online and in person during months between book deliveries.
The service costs $13 monthly for U.S. subscribers, £12 for UK subscribers, and £15 for international subscribers. Each book will be accompanied by subscriber-exclusive items such as bookmarks, pamphlets, and artwork.
Mohammed El-Kurd's nonfiction debut, Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal, published by Haymarket Books, will be the first selection in the series. Subscribers will receive the book along with a postcard featuring cover artwork by Gaza-based artist Maisara Baroud.
Former Verso Books editor Rosie Warren noted that the initiative comes at a time when English-language publishing about Palestine has reached unprecedented levels. "There has never been as much work published in English about Palestine as there is today," she said.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is among several authors who endorsed the initiative, saying, "The Palestine Festival of Literature does the important work of connecting writers of all backgrounds with the land and people of Palestine. This latest project—a curated collection of works by some of our most preeminent Palestinian writers—is an extension of that undertaking."
