Torn Body, One Soul: A Collection of Palestinian Short Fiction

In Torn Body, One Soul, four Palestinian writers-sons and daughters of a Palestinian people torn apart-tell their own tales of their predicament, estrangement, and marginalization, their expectations and visions in a new, magnified voice, first to their people, then to their nation, and to a wider English-speaking public.

The seventh book in a series of volumes on Palestinian authors, this collection of short stories, translated and edited by Jamal Assadi, contains works of writers hailing from different regions in Palestine and abroad. Through their stories, authors Gharib Asqalani, Huzama Habayeb, Akram Haniyya, and Mahmoud Shukair depict a faithful picture of the various aspects of life in both Palestine and the Diaspora. Their narratives defy taboos, battle oppression, break open locked gates, and speak their truth.

Ranging from grave to light and humorous to sensual and remarkable, the stories in Torn Body, One Soul come from a diverse core of perspective, gender, and geographic location but provide insight into and a fragrance of a different civilization.

Jamal Assadi earned a PhD in English from the University of Newcastle. He chairs the Department of English at the College of Sakhnin and is a lecturer at An-Najah National University, Nablus. In addition to numerous articles in professional journals, Assadi has written several books.