‘A book that calls us to witness our place in history’ Sally Rooney

An urgent and moving essay on the Palestinian struggle and the power of storytelling from the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of Enter Ghost.

Award-winning author Isabella Hammad gave the Edward W. Said lecture at Columbia University nine days before October 7, 2023. The text of her seminal lecture and its translation, written in the early weeks of 2024, comprise a scathing assessment of the war in Palestine during what seems to be a pivotal moment in the narrative of human history.

Poignant and interpretative, Recognising the Stranger is an exceptional merger of literary and cultural analysis in which Hammad sheds light on the Palestinian fight for freedom.

‘Hammad shows us how the Palestinian struggle is the story of humanity itself, and asks us not to look away but to see ourselves’ MAX PORTER

‘A reminder of the radical potential of reading and the possibility of change’ OLIVIA SUDJIC

‘Extraordinary and amazingly erudite’ RASHID KHALIDI