Gaza Verse, A New Platform for Poetry in Gaza is Here

The Gaza Poets Society reflects on the release of the first edition of the Gaza Verse Journal, "Poetry on the Frontlines," this month, highlighting its importance.

Gaza’s literary scene welcomes a bold new addition: the Gaza Verse Journal. Launched this month, the publication brings together emerging and established poets from Gaza Poets Society whose work reflects the city's complexity, resilience, and cultural richness. With its first issue now available, the journal aims to amplify voices often unheard.

Gaza Verse is a journal of poetry, art, and resistance. Published by the Gaza Poets Society, it amplifies voices from Gaza and beyond through poetry, prose, and visual storytelling. Every issue speaks of survival, memory, and the fight for liberation.

This edition is titled "Poetry on the Frontlines," inspired by the brilliant and talented poets who created their work while enduring a campaign of extermination, destruction, loss, and displacement— as we witness one of the most horrendous genocides in modern history.

I long for My Old World

I long for Gaza, before the war,

when winter nights were warmed not by heaters, but by my grandfather’s voice threading its way through the cold,

telling tales that curled around our fingers like steam from tea.

I long for his house, where peace didn’t need to be spoken—it sat quietly in every corner.

• Taqwa Al Wawi, Gaza Verse, I miss My Old Life

In a city where resilience echoes through every poem, a new literary voice rises. Gaza Verse Journal is more than a magazine—it's a testament to creativity enduring through pain, darkness, loss, death, and famine. For nearly two years, the city has cried out to the world in every language and medium. The poets of Gaza, starved, injured, killed, and left in isolation, long for the world to hear them, to read their words.

This inaugural issue offers a space where voices rise through rhyme, rhythm, and raw honesty, inviting readers into Gaza’s evolving poetic landscape. From seasoned writers to rising talents, each page holds a reflection of spirit, heritage, and the human pulse behind the pen.

"Can the poem stop the death of anyone, kids, women, men, even the poet, can it shield a city crying at night, can it return the names of the war ravaged streets, can it stop the bleeding in a crowded hospital, can it prevent famine from eating our bodies, can it replace a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a lover, can it scare a war-jet, can it disarm a soldier."

_ Mohammed Moussa, what can a poem do during a genocide, Gaza Verse Journal

“When we first imagined Gaza Verse Journal, we weren’t just dreaming of a magazine—we were building a bridge. A bridge between poets and readers, between Gaza and the world. This first issue is our invitation: come listen, come feel, come witness the power of verse.”

• Mohammed Moussa

  

  I write because I must -- because in the face of genocide and unbearable loss, words become my only way to breathe, to resist, and to survive.

  Poetry is my therapy and my escape from a painful reality. It's how I express what can't be said out loud -- how I process grief, preserve memory, and hold on to hope. Writing allows me to speak not only for myself, but for my people -- to tell stories that are often silenced or ignored. Every poem I write carries a piece of my truth, shaped by what I've lived through and what I dream of. Through writing, I rediscover who I am and find the strength to imagine a better tomorrow.

• Taqwa Al Wawi

As the final page turns, what lingers is more than ink—it’s intention. Gaza Verse Journal isn’t just a publication; it’s an invitation to witness and to listen. With each poem, Gaza's poetic voices reclaim narrative space, challenging silence with cadence and clarity. This is only the beginning. The journey of verse continues—unfolding across borders, ringing with truth, and daring the world to pay attention.

Please buy a copy today.