Author Adania Shibli examines silence as a creative force, weaving between our personal experiences and reflecting on Edward Said’s thoughts on the question of silence, and of Aime Cesaire on silence that precedes poetry, amongst others.

There are varied experiences of silence for the oppressed. It may emerge as a tool of oppression and deletion, a space of refuge or a means for resistance. For a writer, silence is the realm within which writing exists. Written words are essentially silent.

Adania Shibli (1974, Palestine) has written novels, plays, short stories and narrative essays. Her latest is the novel Tafsil Thanawi (Beirut: Al-Adab, 2017, forthcoming as Minor Detail by Fitzcarraldo Edition/Uk, and New Directions/USA, 2020). In addition to writing fiction, Shibli is engaged in academic teaching at Birzeit University, Palestine, and is a researcher in the field of cultural studies and visual culture.

Image credit: Ahmad Nassar, The Return of the Names II, 2010