A Story of Love and Resistance Amidst Dispossession

Electric Literature features an interview with poet Nyla Matuk about her debut novel, Leila and Khaled. The book follows a Palestinian Canadian film scholar who falls for a younger local guide during an academic delegation to occupied Palestine, weaving a slow-burn romance through checkpoints, segregation walls, and the ever-present shadow of the Nakba. Matuk also discusses how younger diaspora generations are reclaiming their roots and the shifting Western perception of Palestinians, shaped by social media exposure to ongoing violence.

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