Art for Palestine · Poetry Anthology

Patterns of Return

Poems to Embroider the Revolution

A living anthology of resistance, longing, and love

Editor Safia Khan
Illustrator Fedaa Boqaileh
Formatting & Interior Layout Isa Rev

58

Poems

43

Poets

8

Poets in Gaza

📦 Pre-orders ship Fall 2026

Patterns of Return — Cover
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Despite living under genocide, Gazan poets have been relentlessly dedicated to creating art. In the face of erasure, their words become legacies no occupation can tarnish.

About this anthology

From the beginning, tatreez emerged from the core of this anthology. Its initial stitch pierced the fabric of each poem read. Its rich history of creation in response to destruction, of stitching together separate motifs to tell a story in symbols, parallels the explosion of poetry we have received since October 2023.

These poems and illustrations collectively form patterns of return. Although individual threads, when woven together, they become a living story of exile and longing to go back. The pen leaves the page the way a body leaves the land, or a needle leaves cloth. The pen returns to the page the way a soul does, a thread does. There is no leaving without eventually returning.

The anthology represents diverse voices that encompass the breadth and reach of solidarity with Palestine. There is not only suffering. There is beauty, anger, grief, love, humour and triumphant, defiant hope.

Authors living in Gaza

Voices from the front line

These eight poets are writing from inside Gaza — under siege, under bombardment, under genocide. Their contributions to this anthology are acts of survival and resistance. Each receives an honorarium through the Palestine Lives! campaign.

Meet all Gaza contributors →

Global authors and allies

In solidarity, from around the world

Poets from across Palestine, Asia, Africa, America, and Europe stand alongside their Gazan sisters and brothers in this anthology — each one refusing silence, each one stitching their thread into the collective story.

Illustrations

Fedaa Boqaileh

Throughout the anthology are a series of illustrations from Fedaa Boqaileh, a Palestinian in the diaspora whose paintbrush is her tatreez needle. Tatreez patterns on the border of certain pages indicate poems from Gaza — telling the story that lies at the heart of this anthology.

Support this work

Every purchase goes further than a book

Proceeds from Patterns of Return support direct honoraria to Gaza-based contributors and Denizens Society's community programs for displaced Palestinian families.

📦 Pre-orders ship Fall 2026