A daybook by Palestinian poet, editor, and curator Mahmoud Al-Shaer, A Year on the Abyss of Genocide is comprised written entries following Al-Shaer's displacement and eventual return throughout a year of the destruction of Gaza and genocide of Palestinians. Navigating self-reflection and public appeal, A Year on the Abyss of Genocide is a work of intense introspection. Al-Shaer's poetic prose defies the spectacle of suffering, focusing on deep psychological states as he vacillates between despair, numbness, and hope.

Once immersed in Gaza's arts milieu, including at the helm of gallery 28 in Rafah before it was destroyed by Israel, programming at Al Ghussein Cultural House in Gaza City, and publishing 28 magazine, Al-Shaer's world was forever altered when his young family was displaced from the home he had spent years building. A Year on the Abyss of Genocide recounts the longing for Al-Shaer's home, his gallery and cultural spaces, as it narrates ongoing displacement, deep concerns for his children, and his repeat thwarted efforts to reunite, alongside his wife and daughter, with his young son and his mother in Turkey. This longing for his son, who had travelled to that country for critical medical treatment, leads him to reconsider the fact of his own father's absence from his childhood after being killed by Israeli settlers. At the end of each of Mahmoud's entries, he adds his appeal to the world outside of Gaza, a refrain that resounds increasingly through the text.

With an introduction by Palestinian curator and writer Nasrin Himada, and an afterword by Palestinian antiracism scholar Fadi Ennab, A Year on the Abyss of Genocide begins with an editor's note from Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, who met Al-Shaer through the PalFest Festival of Literature in 2023.

Mahmoud Al-Shaer's profile page

Nasrin Himada's profile page

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's profile page

Fadi Ennab is a Vanier Scholar and PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. He writes on abolition, decolonization, and anti-racism. Over two decades ago, Fadi moved to Winnipeg, Treaty One Territory, as an international student. His father is a Palestinian Nakba survivor. Fadi was born and raised in Dubai.

Fadi Ennab's profile page