Unsilenced: Poems for Palestine is a collection of poems that convey profound emotions and serious reflections on the ongoing situation in Gaza and Palestine since the Nakba. The anthology seeks to express the moral outrage felt by poets from around the world, highlighting the perceived double standards of the West regarding international law and the suffering of the Palestinian people. The poems examine the daily realities of life and philosophical perspectives on the human condition, using nature as a motif to articulate emotions and explore themes of homeland, childhood, exile, genocide, and war. All proceeds from the sale of the collection will be donated to Gaza, demonstrating the poets’ commitment to fostering positive change through their art. Contributors include diverse voices from various countries, each recognizing the urgency and necessity of addressing the inhumane actions perpetrated against Palestine.

Praise for Unsilenced

Haunting verses by poets fluent in the language of death and genocide. Each poem rings out as a piece of memory, a bridge and a dream. This elegy will stand as a testimonial, a witness, by brave voices exhausted by the deafening silence of a traumatized world. —Nnimmo Bassey, author of I See the Invisible (poems)

… the priceless value of an anthology of lyrics from yet another encircled, blitzed, strafed, and bombarded commune, ghetto, or kibbutz, is that it bears indelible witness to the unbreakable human spirit yearning for freedom, for peace, for bread and wine and water set amid an olive grove or a lemon orchard. That is what you will unfold in editor John P. Portelli’s Unsilenced: Poetry for Palestine. Poets—Jew and Arab, Muslim and Christian, Atheist and Surrealist—voice suffering, resilience, despair, and hope, speaking out of their fragile humanity to demand that vile atrocities cease. — George Elliott Clarke, author of Canticles I-III, 6 vols, MMXVI-MMXXIII (2016-2023)

Unsilenced shows how poetry is written to trigger and provoke, to bear witness, to look at the sky and shout, over and over, as loudly as necessary against injustice. Immanuel Mifsud, Associate Professor, University of Malta and winner of the European Union Prize for Literature (2011).

Contributing Authors
Raed Anis Al-Jishi (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
Ridvan Ardic (Türkiye)
Lil Blume (Canada)
Taghrid Bou Merhi (Lebanon and Brazil)
Hasan Bozdaş (Türkiye)
Norbert Bugeja (Malta)
Tatev Chakhian (Armenia)
Franca Colozzo (Italy)
Lana Derkač (Croatia)
Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews (Canada)
Leanne Ellul (Malta)
Marthese Fenech (Malta)
Abigail George (South Africa)
Joe Giampaolo (Canada)
Elham Hamedi (Iran)
Xanthi Handrou-Hill (Greece)
Jennifer Hosein (Canada)
Fady Joudah (USA)
Sheema Kalbasi (Iran, Denmark, USA)
Rula Kahil (Lebanon and Canada)
Nibal Khalil (Palestine)
Zeyneb Karaca (Türkiye)
Yahia Lababidi (USA)
Milica Jeftimijević Lilić (Serbia)
Sonia Maddouri (Tunisia)
Lisa Suhair Majaj (Palestine, U.S.A., and Cyprus)
Marwan Makhoul (Palestine)
Leila Marshy (Canada)
Ahmed Miqdad (Palestine)
Maria Miraglia (Italy)
Walid Nabhan (Malta, Jordan, Palestine)
Mirela Necula (Romania)
Mansour Noorbakhsh (Canada)
Joseph C. Ogbonna (Nigeria)
Muhammed Huseyin Ozer (Türkiye)
John P. Portelli (Malta and Canada)
Niloy Rafiq (Bangladesh)
Shirani Rajapakse (Sri Lanka)
Giovanna Riccio (Canada)
Omar Sabbagh (Lebanon)
Paul Salvatori (Canada)
Eray Saricam (Türkiye)
Zulal Sema (Türkiye)
Cao Shui (China)
Kadir Tepe (Türkiye)
Graciela Noemi Villaverde (Argentina)
Mirela Leka Xhava (France, Albania)
Klara Vassallo (Malta)
Anna Yin (Canada)
Ghassan Zaqtan (Palestine)