Narrating Palestine: Family, History, and Displacement

This is a free event, but registration is required.

Who gets to tell the story of Palestine? For decades, Palestinian writers, historians, and journalists have worked to recover suppressed histories and share narratives of dispossession and exile.

In Tareq Baconi’s Fire in Every Direction, he traces his family’s history of displacement, from his grandmother fleeing Haifa in 1948 as Israeli militias seized the city, to their departure from Lebanon during the civil war, before they ultimately settled in Jordan. Ramzy Baroud’s Before the Flood reflects on Palestinian history and personal stories of his family and their village, reclaiming Palestinian narratives from distorted portrayals.

In this conversation, Baconi and Baroud will explore the ways Palestinian history is written and remembered, from family memory and storytelling to political analysis and the fight against erasure.

The 2026 PEN World Voices Festival is a celebration of world literature and free expression. The 2026 edition will be the 21st World Voices Festival. Over four days, over 140 writers from over 40 countries will be featured in 40 engaging talks, panels, readings, and activations in New York City and greater Los Angeles.

Visit for more information about the entire festival, as well as PEN America.

Judson Memorial Church is an accessible venue. The back door (243 Thompson St) has elevator access to the space.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our Box Office team at [email protected] by April 15th to request.

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Host or Publisher PEN America