If I Must Die. Poetry and Prose by REFAAT ALAREER

Compiled with an introduction by
YOUSEF M. ALJAMAL
Foreword by
SUSAN ABULHAWA
PALESTINE BOOK AWARDS WINNER 2025

This rich, elegiac compilation of work from the late Palestinian poet and professor, Refaat Alareer, brings together his marvelous poetry and deeply human writing about literature, teaching, politics, and family.
“Offering a deeply personal window on Israeli violence in Gaza, this shouldn’t be missed.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Refaat left us, but his word must not.”
—Mosab Abu Toha
“Compelling . . . a glimpse into a restless political and literary mind, one that was still rising to the height of its powers.”
—The Guardian
“Crafted with such meticulous detail . . . Refaat’s dispatches offer the poet’s most intimate and vulnerable thoughts.”
—Drop Site News
“One of the most important literary voices of Palestine . . . Refaat has changed the lives of countless people, in Gaza and far beyond.”
—Current Affairs
“Transforms trauma, death and despair into words and into poetry, occasionally rising to true greatness.”
—Jewish Voice for Labour
“Fragments of a visionary's blueprint for liberation.”
—Middle East Eye
“The 'Voice of Gaza' lives on.”
—New Arab
“Remarkable . . . a tragic document of genocide, and a beacon of hope for a Palestinian future.”
—The Morning Star