Between Illusion and Survival, Weam Qudaih / Zines from Gaza, Coastal Lines press

An account of how fear and hope are so intricately woven into reality and how, sometimes, one small step is all we can strive for.

“How does a soul find calm when all day it stares, remembers, and dreams, stands between fantasies one cannot live, a yesterday one cannot return to, a tomorrow coming that can’t be trusted?”

Composed of inner dialogue and reflections on life in Gaza since October 2023, this poem-essay navigates the seemingly eternal rain, its washing away of certainties, and the hopelessness and anger all this brings.

Editions: English (original)

About the Author
Born in 2005, Weam Qudaih is a content creation student at UCAS and author of Diario Gaza, a personal war journal published in Italy. She loves storytelling and turning her thoughts into words.