Global Reading for Freedom of Expression and Solidarity with Palestine (3rd Iteration), Pamenar Press, November 29-30, 2025 (Schedule)
«On November 29-30, 2025, a coalition of independent presses, collaboratives, poets, writers, and translators will hold a 24-hour Global Reading for Freedom of Expression & Solidarity with Palestine.
This annual event has become a powerful and moving show of unity – poetry knows no borders and can speak powerfully for the right to free expression. Poetry bears witness!
Readers and attendees will convene online. The reading will begin with Palestinian poets in Palestine and follow the sun across the world. As one region rests, another will rise. Participants will share poems in their own languages, affirming the shared power of words and the ongoing work of resistance and solidarity.
We remain committed to freedom of expression and stand with all who face violence and oppression. We invite friends, supporters, and allies to join the livestream at 15:00 Palestine time (EET) and renew the call for global solidarity through poetry, language, and collective witness.
Join us live to hear writers from Afghanistan, Albania, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, East Africa, Egypt, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Kosovo, Kurdish regions, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Palestine, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey, Turtle Island, the United Kingdom, and many others gathering in one continuous shared space of resistance and solidarity.»
Schedule
With support also from Abbas Kiarostami Foundation, Kyklàda.press, Publishers for Palestine, Stenen Press, Tamaas Foundation, Winter Editions, World Poetry Books, and many more...
A personal reading project, where I endeavour to read a book from each of the 193 United Nations member states plus 7 extra* ones. My main goal is to have fun and to learn, but I do have rules for myself:
The book should be fiction, and preferably a novel. I allow plays and poetry, but non-fiction only as the very last resort
The author should have the nationality of their country. If they have lived a good portion of their life there and genuinely represent the local culture, then it's ok if they've been born somewhere else
I want to read books that represent the local literary tradition. Preferably a "classic", a book that illustrates the local culture, or a book that is famous within the country. I avoid popular and contemporary fiction, and books that play outside of the country.
*Extra states have been determined based on UNESCO membership and personal interest where I want to read more books from. This is not a political statement.
The List
Afghanistan: Atiq Rahimi - Earth and Ashes
Albania:
Algeria: Albert Camus - The Stranger (FR)
Andorra: Teresa Colom - Mlle Keaton et autres creatures (FR)
Angola: José Eduardo Agualusa - The Book of Chameleons
Antigua and Barbuda: Jamaica Kincaid - Annie John
Argentina: JL Borges - Fictions
Armenia: Raffi - The Fool
Australia: Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara - Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Austria: Elfriede Jelinek - Die Klavierspielerin
Azerbaijan: Kurban Said - Ali und Nino
Bahamas: Telcine Turner - Woman Take Two
Bahrain: Sarah Al Shafei - Yummah
Bangladesh: Begama Rokeya - Sultana's Dream
Barbados
Belarus: Uladzimir Karatkievich - King Stakh's Wild Hunt
Belgium
Belize: Zee Edgell - Beka Lamb
Benin
Bhutan: Karma Ura - The Hero with a Thousand Eyes
Bolivia: Adela Zamudio - Cuentos breves
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Ivo Andrić - The Bridge on the Drina
Botswana: Bessie Head - Maru
Brazil: Paulo Coehlo - The Alchimist
Brunei Darussalam: K.H. Lim - Written in Black
Bulgaria: Elias Canetti - Komödie der Eitelkeit (GER)
Burkina Faso: Norbert Zongo - Le parachutage (FR)
Burundi: Samoya Kirura - La femme au regard triste (FR)
Cabo Verde: Germano Almeida - The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo
Cambodia
Cameroon: Francis Bebey - King Albert
Canada: S. Alice Callahan - Wynema: A Child of the Forest
Central African Republic: Étienne Goyémidé - Le dernier Survivant de la caravane
Chad: Told by Starlight in Chad - Joseph Brahmin Seid
Chile: Luis Sepulveda - The Old Man Who Read Love Stories
China
Colombia: Gabriel García Márquez - One hundred years of solitude
Comoros: Ali Zamir - A Girl Called Eel
Congo
Cook Islands*: Kauraka Kauraka- Oral tradition in Manihiki
Costa Rica: Carlos Luis Fallas - Mamita Yunai (Die Grüne Hölle, GER)
Côte D’Ivoire: Véronique Tadjo - Reine Pokou (FR)
Croatia
Cuba: Guillermo Cabrera Infante - Three Trapped Tigers
Cyprus: Kyriakos Charalambides - Selected Poems
Czech Republic: Jan Neruda - Prague Tales
DPRK (North Korea): Bandi - The Accusation
DRC: The Mwindo Epic (edited by Daniel Biebuyck and Kahombo C. Mateene)
Denmark
Djibouti: Abdourahman A. Waberi - Passage of Tears
Dominica: Jean Rhys - Wide Sargasso Sea
Dominican Republic: Juan Bosch - Cuentos inolvidables (SPA)
Ecuador: Jorge Icaza - Huasipungo
Egypt: Naguib Mahfouz - Palace Walk
El Salvador: Horacio Castellanos Moyà - Le bal des vipères (FR)
Equatorial Guinea: Trifonia Melibea Obono - La Bâtarde (FR)
Eritrea: Helen Berhane - Song of the Nightingale
Estonia: Jaan Kross - The Czar's Madman
Eswatini: Malla Nunn - A Beautiful Place to Die
Ethiopia
Fiji: Rajni Mala Khelawan - Kalyana
Finland: F.E. Sillanpää - Meek Heritage
France: Pierre Louys - Aphrodite: Ancient Manners
Gabon: Daniel M Mengara - Mema
Gambia
Georgia: Mikheil Javakhishvili - Kvachi
Germany: Thomas Mann - Buddenbrooks
Ghana: Ayi Kwei Armah - The beautiful ones are not yet born
Greece: Nikos Kazantzakis - Zorba the Greek
Greenland*: Knud Rasmussen - Eskimo Folktales
Grenada: Merle Collins - The Colour of Forgetting
Guatemala: Miguel Angel Asturias - Strong Wind
Guinea: Camara Laye - The Radiance of the King
Guinea Bissau: Abdulai Sila - The ultimate tragedy
Guyana
Haiti: Jacques Roumain - Gouverneurs de La Rosée
Honduras: Froylan Turcios - El Vampiro (SPA)
Hungary: Arthur Koestler - Darkness at Noon
Iceland: Halldór Laxness - Independent People
India: Rabindranath Tangore - The Home and the World
Indonesia: Eka Kurniawan - Man Tiger
Iran: Sadegh Hedayat - The Blind Owl
Iraq: Andrew George - The epic of Gilgamesh
Ireland: James Joyce - Dubliners
Israel: SY Agnon - In the heart of the seas
Italy: Italo Calvino - If on a Winter's Night a Traveller
Jamaica: Andrew Salkey - Hurricane
Japan
Jordan: Amjad Nasser - L'ascension de l'amant (FR)
Kazakhstan: Der sterbende See by Abdishamil Nurpeissow (GER)
Kenya: Ngugi wa Thiong'o - Petals of blood
Kiribati: Teresia Teaiwa & Vilsoni Hereniko - Last Virgin in paradise
Kosovo*: Flora Brovina - Call me by my name
Kuwait: Ismail Fahd - The Old Woman and the River
Kyrgyzstan: Chingiz Aitmatov - Jamila
Laos: Outhine Bounyavong - Mother's Beloved
Latvia
Lebanon: Amin Maalouf - Le rocher de Tanios
Lesotho
Liberia: Bai T. Moore - Murder in the Cassava Patch
Libya: Ibrahim Al-Koni - The bleeding of the stone
Liechtenstein
Lithuania: Vingas Kreve - The Herdsman and the Linden Tree
Luxembourg: Norbert Jacques - Dr Mabuse der Spieler (GER)
Madagascar: Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo - Traduit de La nuit (FR)
Malawi: William Kamkwamba - The Boy who harnessed the Wind
Malaysia
Maldives: Abdullah Sadiq - Dhon Hiyala and Ali Fulhu
Mali: Yambo Ouologuem - Bound to violence
Malta: Oliver Friggieri - Koranta and other short stories
Marshall Islands: Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner - Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter
Global Reading challenge update: I’ve decided that I wanna finish off all of Oceania first! I’ve made really good progress there, but I’m missing Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, and Australia and Aotearoa (which I’m leaving for last cos they’re obviously the easiest to find books for!)
It’s also often just small poetry collections for these countries so they are very fast to do 😂🙏
It’s been a while since I reported on my Global Reading project so here we go:
I’m almost halfway there!!!! I’m reading books number 94 and 95 right now, and I’m certain I will hit the halfway point this calendar year. I doubt that I will manage to finish the second half next year, but I’m very proud of my progress so far.
It’s been an amazing experience, and I’m happy to have discovered a handful of true gems, some unique diversity as well as some ubiquitous themes, and a deep hatred for memoirs. I have never abandoned a book without finding a replacement, and I’ve kept cheating to a minimum (tbh only Nauru, Vatican City, and San Marino are true cheating!)
I think I’m going to make a top 10 books list when I truly hit the 100 countries halfway mark! but as a little preview, my current reads & first impressions:
Number 94: Death and the Penguin by A. Kurkov (Ukraine) - I only read the first chapter, but oh my god I am so excited. The premise is that a disparaged writer has a pet penguin. Lmao
Number 95: Las Noches de Babel by R. Miró (Panama) - Literally just started it, but it’s one of the very few Spanish-language books that I’ve picked out. I think the level is fine for me, so looking forward to some untranslated immersion!
Plans for the last five reads of the first half of this project are…
• The Fool by Raffi (Armenia)
• Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua & Barbuda)
• La femme au regard triste by Samoya Kirura (Burundi)
• Life without a recipe by D. Abu Jaber (Jordan and a fucking memoir RIP but at least there seems to be food involved!)
• mystery card. Maybe the Qatar romance novel. Or I try to find the remaining memoirs to eliminate those (Nepal? Kosovo?)
ok not me wanting to know what books youre reading for the countries not filled in 😫
omggg thank you so much for being interested!!! Is there any particular country you’d like to know? 🫶 ill happily answer any questions or gossip about the countries that were the worst to find books for or smth if you like 😂
I’ll post the full list to tumblr as I go, but here are the top 10 books I’m particularly looking forward to to read:
• Andrej Kurkov - Death and the Penguin (Ukraine)
• Coetzee - Disgrace (South Africa)
• Goce Smilevski - Freud's Sister (North Macedonia)
• Ananda Devi - Eve out of her ruins (Mauritius)
• Ibrahim Al-Koni - The bleeding of the stone (Libya)
• Eka Kurniawan - Man Tiger (Indonesia)
• Edgar Mittelholzer - My bones and my flute (Guyana)
• Jaroslav Hasek - The Good Soldier Svejk (Czechia)
• George Lamming - In the Castle of my Skin (Barbados)
• Ismail Kadare - The General of the Dead Army (Albania)
