The Hajar Book of Rage

Edited by Farhaana Arefin

The first book in the elements anthology series, this Fire-themed collection brings together poetry, fiction and essays by twenty writers exploring the animating power of rage as a driver of revolutionary change.

‘Anger is the fuel of direct action, protest, revolution. In the inflation of fury, we are unassailable agents of history, so ready for liberation that we already feel free.’

Brick by Brick: How We Build a World Without Prisons

By Cradle Community

Drawing connections across social justice movements—housing justice, food justice, climate justice, migrant justice, and more—this is an indispensable resource for those who dream of building a just, caring, prison-free society.

‘A world without prisons is nothing like the world we live in now. It is a world built on collective safety and care—for all of us.’

Experiments in Imagining Otherwise

By Lola Olufemi

Lola Olufemi’s written experiments deftly navigate the space between what we have been told, what we know to be true and what we cannot yet conceive. Weaving together fragmentary reflections and prose poetry, this ground-breaking book teaches that we must invent the future now and never let go of the otherwise.

‘here are strategies for resistance, they’re not total, they’re not right, they are there. pick them up and put them down depending on the horror of the day. don’t waste time being surprised by the horror. … whisper only one promise, to remain steadfast in the belief that this cannot be all there is.’

COOP: A Novelette

By Nida Sajid

In playful, meticulously crafted vignettes, this pocket-sized novelette captures the struggles and ironies of precarious London life in the mid-2020s, artfully telling a story that’s gripping, funny, poignant, sometimes heartwarming and always real.

‘Few years back I wanted to tell people about you and feel proud. But now my mind has been changed. I keep all emotions about you in my heart. … I try to learn from you how to carry myself, never give up and live a graceful life. On a lighter note, I am using Whatsapp on computer right now and it does not allow me to start a new paragraph. Take care and good night. Dad.’

The Leaf of the Neem Tree

By Jamal Mehmood

Bitter truths are revealed as medicine in this impeccable collection of poems and short stories, which deal in the alchemy of introspection—the quietness of loss, longing, memory and spirituality.

‘Beneath all our accords and deals,

stacked and tessellated like bodies thrown to rot,

there are those who imagine otherwise,

until that hazy dawn returns.’

Seeing for Ourselves: And Even Stranger Possibilities

By Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan

In these loving pages, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan asks why we yearn to be seen when we’re already far too visible, whether we can ever really see ourselves for ourselves, and what it might mean to look with our souls instead of our eyes.

‘From my belief in a day that is coming, my hopes, my dreams, my conversations with those who aren’t here anymore … to my belief in angels, jinns, ‘ayn and hasad, and in Allah’s presence, love, trust and knowledge of my intentions … the seen world is barely as motivating or explanatory as the unseen world.’

Sambac Beneath Unlikely Skies

By Heba Hayek

Filled with tenderness and warmth, this collection of memories of a girlhood in Gaza is a love letter to Palestinian women and their steadfast care and nurturing in the face of violent colonial occupation.

‘They say the exploding oils that emanate from an orange’s mist are a thousand times faster than a rocket going into space. Here, halfway across the world from Mama’s syrupy tangerines, I wonder how I ended up so far, so quickly.’

Fovea / Ages Ago

By Sarah Lasoye

Honest and keenly perceptive, these bright poems open a window into emergent preoccupations—with selfhood, goodness and want—that persist and reappear from the playground to the present day.

‘Dear God, I have something to tell you. I peeled a girl today, like she was an apple. She went bright red and her eyes bulged to hold the pain. You should have seen it.’

The Rupture Files

By Nathan Alexander Moore

Across multiple worlds in upheaval, an extraordinary ensemble of Black queer characters—vampires and monsters, creatures of the sea and of the night—must make impossible but human decisions in this brilliant collection of supernatural short stories.

‘She crashes onto the scene like springtime, quiet but filled with so much colour. The dark brown of her skin glistens equally with the vibrance of youth and the slickness of sweat. She wears green like no other woman ever could. Like she invented the damn colour. Her smile is full of paradise and has you wondering what her moans taste like.’

Pearls from Their Mouth

By Pear Nuallak

Exploring Thai folklore as a world of abolitionist possibility, this dazzling collection combines fantastical short stories with fiery critical essays, tearing apart the myths of racial capitalism and inviting us to imagine new ways of living.

‘I don’t want to prove that I too am a person. I want to free myself from the grip of personhood, guts and all. … Slip my skin on over yours. Does it feel good to inhabit it? Do you like the fantasy of a beautiful thing? What is it like? I want you to tell me. Come closer.’