Samar Al Gussien is a Palestinian writer from Gaza, a distinctive voice in contemporary poetry that reflects life under war and resistance, capturing the cries and resilience of Palestinian girlhood. Her work has been published in Modern Poetry in Translation and Al-Ayyam newspaper, and her texts have been translated into multiple languages. She is currently contributing to an upcoming poetry anthology in Italy and is working on publishing her independent book, which continues to explore themes of resistance, loss, and beauty in the face of trauma.

You can read two of Samar’s poems, self-translated, in Arabic and English at ArabLit, and you can also listen to her “Mihrab,” translated by Batool Abu Akleen, from Modern Poetry in Translation.

Find Samar at @samar9.4 and contribute to her campaign on GoFundMe.