Birthright

by George Abraham

Birthright is a book that balances the weight of place. The pride and shame and worth of homeland. Palestine, a homeland under siege and under scrutiny from a world that doesn't occupy its borders. It is a book of immense nuance, pulling together all corners of the author's pride in home, but also a desire to understand the violent cycles of the American machinery of war.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Nonfiction, Queer, Middle East, History, Historical

127 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2020

About the author

George Abraham (they/هو) is a Palestinian American poet, essayist, critic, performance artist. They are the author of When the Arab Apocalypse Comes to America (Haymarket, 2026) and Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are the executive editor of Mizna, and co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025). They are a graduate of Northwestern’s Litowitz MFA+MA program, and teach at Amherst College as a Writer-in-Residence.

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poetry collection has three sections. The first section talks about the author's origin, place and his people; gay people and the issues related; his heritage and home.
The second section talks about the birthright and political issues. The third section talks about adaptation being faced everything about being someone who's come out of the closet and being survived in a place of political unrest. This collection is rather too heavy, deep and personal. I loved the random short stories in between more. The writing is incredible, strong and left an impact.
I totally appreciate the way the lines are written. This collection is going to stay.

Thank you #NetGalley for the book #Birthright

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

transcendent. the reason that i Read poetry.

[Bogi Takács]

Extremely appreciated this debut poetry collection. I finished reading it a while ago, but I'm intending to make a Twitter thread about it, so I've been putting off posting about it on Goodreads. (But I'm getting confused about which books I want to post about, so I'm rethinking this strategy.)

As much as it is possible to *finish* reading it - this book is fundamentally nonlinear. And also features a few entirely new poetic forms created by the author. Go check it out, and I'll link my thread here with more information / commentary once I've made it (soon, G-d willing).
_____
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library (who ordered it on my request, thank you so much!) but I'll probably buy my own copy too because I have trouble parting with it.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I visited Palestine on an educational delegation in 2014: it left a deep impression on me, so I’m always on the lookout for Palestinian writers, especially poets: opening my ears about the genocide and occupation is the least one can do.

But, man, this book is a stunning knockout. Not only is it adept at capturing a full range of emotions, from longing to anger to bitter confusion, but it is incredibly innovative in form and style. The poet plays on the page, and the forms themselves embody bigger meanings and themes: maps, erasures, webs, migration, power structures. And yet, this heightened formal awareness never overwhelms the careful beauty of the words and images and sentiments rendered. There are so many gut punch lines. It’s a collection for mourning and enduring.

[Annesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to think about this book for a long time - maybe forever.

[Adeeba Talukder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is brilliant, and I was constantly blown away as I read it.

[Emma]

"my mind is a country / that sets itself ablaze"

Birthright was a poetry collection that frequently made me feel as if I didn't know enough about poetry to enjoy it. Many of the forms used for the poems seemed as though they were part of a broader conversation within the genre that went over my head as an interested, non-expert. My favorites of the collection were "IX Mistranslations of Ash (Haifa, 2016)" and "Ode to Mennel Ibtissam singing Hallelujah on The Voice (France), translated in Arabic."

C/W:suicidal ideation, queerphobia, death of a loved one, war violence

[wmly · Rating 5 out of 5]

i can’t be unchanged after finishing this. i thought i was changed before but now: i am CHANGED

[Rachel Teferet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe Abraham’s brilliant work. They have rearranged my mind to understand both Palestine and poetry in a new light.

Favorite lines:

“i left my heart in a sea
-glass sepulture & called it
home…” —Haifa Love Letters from a Palestinian exile (p.51)

“In any case, your oppressor has successfully engineered a reality in which you cannot see yourself existing.” —in which you cannot ask the state of israel to commit suicide (p.54)

“I first heard the word Palestine in second grade, when I was assigned a project on family history. When my mother first said it, I went to my globe but could not find it anywhere. I thought to myself, ’She must have meant Pakistan,’ because it was the most similar name I could find. When I gave a presentation about my Pakistani family heritage and our falafel, I garnered many confused looks from my classmates.” —Ekphrasis on a Fragmented Nationalism (p.89)

“We ended our trip in Jaffa: a city on the Mediterranean that was the landmark of much of my grandfather’s nostalgia. I was walking the city with a Jewish friend of mine. They were my shoulder after visiting ethnically-cleansed villages and the segregated city of Jerusalem where my grandparents once resided. I was theirs after encountering our first instance of antisemitism at an israeli settlement, after going through the Holocaust Museum, and after hearing all the ways their ancestral trauma was exploited by the zionist state

“I say this not to equate our experiences—that is a key component of israel’s colonial imagination. The common thread in our experiences, however, is the distortion and unwriting of history, committed by the colonial imagination—the realization that despite our memory and the representations we were fed, israel failed all of us.

“After walking through the marbled, opulent streets, after touching the Mediterranean Sea for the first time, after photographing the architecture, I believe it was my friend who said first: ‘This is fake. It’s all fake.’

“And it was. Even though we were in it, physically touching and breathing it, the city we were experiencing was the physical manifestation of the colonial imagination. … The colonial imagination isn’t just the checkpoints, walls, eradicated villages, and families with concrete barriers through their houses; it is also opulence built over that wreckage. It is residents who are convinced they live in the greatest city in the world.” —Ekphrasis on a Fragmented Nationalism (p.93).”

Very grateful to have met George Abraham and to have heard them read. 🇵🇸 will be free

[Farah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer - I was sent a free digital copy of this book by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

As an avid reader of poetry and prose, my initial thoughts on the book were that it takes a lot of concentration and thought to decipher some of the prose. However, as you delve deeper, it is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Paying homage to those that have suffered and are suffering in Palestine is something I believe everybody needs to lend their time to. On top of covering the struggles of past and modern day Palestine, the other manages to beautifully and heartbreakingly capture many of today’s mental health struggles, as well as struggles within western society’s. I would completely recommend this book to anybody and everybody.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Birthright is a truly breathtaking collection. George Abraham is an immensely talented and skilled poet who makes use of a variety of forms and rhythms and visuals throughout this collection to stunning effect. There are poems to be read backwards, sideways, in mirrors, and other unconventional visual forms. This collection could truly be used to teach poetry with. Beyond the forms themselves, the content of the poetry is thought-provoking and emotionally devastating in the ways it deals with the poet's lived reality as a queer Palestinian American and with their true passion for the dismantle of settler colonial states like the one occupying their homeland. My favourite poems/prose pieces in the collection are "Video Loop: Ben Gurion Airport panic attack," "in which you do not ask the state of israel to commit suicide," "Broken Ghazal, Before Balfour," "from Adaptation Portraits (strange cartographies)," "Ekphrasis on Mirror Skylines," "The Ghosts of the Exhibit Are Screaming (Palinode)," and "ars poetica in which every pronoun is Free Palestine." I won't pretend it is a quick or easy read, but it is one that will stay with you.

Whether you are a lover of the poetic form or support Palestinians, I highly recommend this poetry collection.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection by Palestinian poet George Abraham. I love the way they discuss Palestine and the impact of imperialism with such rage and honesty. The way they expertly balance bleakness, defiance, and inspiration. The way he draws a line from himself back through the generations of struggle that came before him in so many of their poems.

“To laugh after being put on the watchlist, say finally you fuckers – to be a laughing-in-God’s face type of immortal-

To lean into the light, as if it was jealous enough to take us back; as if we weren’t ancestored before even drawing our first breaths-"

[Nicole Bannister · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Enjoyed everything about this book there was nothing I didn't like about the book. I like the setting,the writing style,the plot,the plot twists and the characters in the book were amazing.I would gladly reread it again.I also like the concept of the book.

[Alyssa LoVacco · Rating 5 out of 5]

George!! My friend!!! You are so talented!!!!!!!

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply personal and unforgiving collection of prose and poetry. A lot of creativity put into the construction of these poems. This is simply an honest and unapologetic account of living as a Palestinian in the diaspora and a journey with being non-binary.

[A.B. Calm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The blood and energy that brought me to poetry in the first place is coursing through this mesmerizing book.

[tsedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

the most moving book ive read in a minute,, here’s some things i’m thinking ab without giving details away.

this book “owe[s] nothing to Truth,” but everything to memory, so the writing is real inventive (at one point they call it an exhibit, which i def see). it feels like breaking apart and piecing together george abraham’s memories and familial histories with them; i often found myself holding my breath. (transformational) repetition, erasure, mirroring, contradiction, and borders appear very literally in the structure of these poems, reflecting how abraham feels their shifting experiences as a queer Palestinian-American.

the collection also translates (is always translating) and curses zionist tactics imbued in a lot of dialogue about Palestine. reflects on how language chosen by israel and americans especially has erased, warped, justified, and weaponized reality. it addresses the dangers of viewing the ongoing nakba and genocide with learned helplessness/as solely a watered down political talking point. instead, birthright roots out unambiguous humanity outside of the hyper strength/resilience/needing to prove yourself narrative (!!!), familial + spiritual + corporeal/biological impacts, living & mourning, longing + relation to queer love and fear, and the many intimate violences of colonialism while keeping Palestinians’ liberation at the center.

outside of the review of the book — part of the moving power for me is the familiar history and “central contradiction” for children of brutal diasporas/born as a result of exile/forced migration. im thinking about south africa ofc, but there’s something larger to be said about the future of long-standing Black and Palestinian connection and solidarity; idk yet. the thank you to Black writers Danez Smith, Terrence Hayes, and DéLana Dameron really brought that to mind for me. so did
“?reverse in read to hardest history isn’t
?repetition in digest to hardest it isn’t”
(isn’t history hardest to read in reverse? isn’t it hardest to digest in repetition?)”

birthright is a big rec if you learn/feel deeply from experimental poetry (poetry as critical theory and history! art/imagination as a part of tangible change! and outside of the colonial imagination— read his poem ekphrasis on a fragmented nationalism.) reminded to let guilt, grief, and rage be catalyzing emotions— another fav quote below:
“if i let this become an elegy, that means i failed.” this exhibit comes with a call to action, responsibility to life, and a lot a lot a lot of love.

there’s so much more that birthright had me wanting to say/hear, but this is a long ass review already. also! he has this set of instructions about reading in the end that i wish i read before the book started so look there if u want! it’s better to read from abraham than me, and tbh the book might be read better fresh with none of my notes — but if you want my copy, let’s share and talk more 🫶🏾

[Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A review i need to keep on adding to as I read over, over and over the paragraphs, over and through the words, sideways and throughout the lines.

I understand words as he understand words. poetry was never meant to be skinny, or concise, poetry is radiant, as u=in, radiant circular shapee, and a sprawl, and barely pared down, nor wrecked through chisels, but still a conductor!

I am in awe! I am in (awe).
There were a lot of pages I did not feel I had the energy to parse through. I found myself to see less in the thin growing soft and sweet grasses of poetica, but rather in the material. Interesting! The poetica was hard.

The form was exquisite, it was exquisite, it nourished and fell too precise in my hands, and shattering with after only one attempt. the form called for you to consume! Oh me oh my! The form was EXQUISITE! YES! you write, you rewrite, you restructure to the point that you can pinpoint every single turn of the line, every single measurement of a paragraph, and the contours of an idea so you can do the formal things they did to the poetry. I am in (awe). birch said you can tell they are a mechanical engineer.



Israel has never been real.
Palestinians become rewriters of their own existence out of necessity. The hand breaking the bone is always their own. We will look for an existence beyond this.
The trauma is always housed in their bodies, but it is never their own.
and the forms people morph into out of nobody's own volition, they should not be shown again and wounds to be trawled through the ground again, and they should exist only in their contours, in their fragments.

anyways. i am in awe of the meat of this book. this anthology changed my opinion of poetry forever.

[Iqra M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first time i used the word depression
with my parents, they said but you're so happy
here - couldn't marvel the sight
of their radiant house in flames : i fear
of horizon free of crimson , i wanted
to say, my mind is a country
who sets itself ablaze.

I don't know where to start. First of all, I do think that Abraham has a distinctive point of view and writing style. I love his choice of words; each page lingers. I also love how the book tackles issues regarding mental health, gender identity, forced displacement and longing for home. Although there are a lot of themes packed into one, they coexist harmoniously. I think this is also the first book that I have ever read by a Palestinian author. In Birthright, the author mourns for his fallen state.

On the other hand, I am not fond of the format. It will take some time to get used to.
Be warned, this is a heavy read. Might be too political for my liking.
Overall, a refreshing read from a talented writer. Kudos to Abraham!

Thank you to Netgalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

[julie | eggmama · Rating 5 out of 5]

bodies, borders, queer Palestinian identity, identity as someone who is told they don't exist or are unworthy of existing, cycles of trauma.

Also, poems based on video games!!! It's cool to see how Abraham did that, as it's something I want to explore.

A lot of interesting forms in general. I'm really curious about the Map of Home, and the way to Read beyond the linear. When assembling the collection, did they determine the table of contents order first, or the constellation map?

I like the anger here and how it simmers without feeling harsh and cutting? Sometimes anger in poems feel a little over the top, dramatic, loud. This anger feels more like a reclamation: I'm not writing for you. You don't deserve my forgiveness. Not sure if that makes sense.

Favorites:
- in which you cannot ask the state of israel to commit suicide
- ars poetica with parallel dimensions
- The Ghosts of the Wxhibit Are Screaming (Palinode)
- Emphasis on a Fragmented Nationalism (prose poems reads like an essay)
- from Adaptation Portraits (strange cartographies)
- To All the Ghosts I've Loved Before

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Birthright by George Abraham is a searing and intimate poetry collection that traces the experience of Palestinian identity, diaspora, and inherited trauma through a deeply personal lens. Abraham weaves together family history, political violence, queerness, and memory, creating a landscape where the personal and the collective constantly echo one another. The poems move between past and present, between the occupied homeland and the fragmented life of exile, often questioning what it means to belong when the place that shapes you is continually erased or denied. The collection refuses to offer a single narrative of Palestine. Instead, it presents a kaleidoscope of voices and forms that explore longing, displacement, and the stubborn survival of culture.

My favourite poems:

• II. TEXTBOOK FRAGMENTS
• V. LEXICON
• VII. ANNIHILATION LANDSCAPE
• origin story, age 17, to be written on the walks of my childhood house in blood
• Broken Ghazal, Before Balfour

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abraham's use of form is intriguing and entertaining, but when the form hardens into blocks, the emotions stop coming slanted and gasping, and instead land hard, like running into that wall of text, heart first. When there’s space to breathe, to look around in wonder at experience-now blended into experience-then, and to feel pulled in rather than shut out, the poems speak loudest to me. This all fits well with the themes of disjointed family, shifting memory, and an entire place and culture being walled off into silence. A paradox of form, that the white spaces have a necessary sound. This collection felt like sitting down to listen to a friend late at night, requiring a centered place inside to listen and time to let them say all that needs said.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ariana van Dyck · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Foreword:

"Within these pages, we examine the inverse of birthright. How do I write this without mentioning the obvious oppressor? An oppressor who deserves no more space in our minds, in our imaginations. I will their erasure in the writing of this and in the reading of Abraham's words. The violent existence of Israel, our complicity in allowing it. The ongoing genocide of Palestinian people and the rapid theft of their land and lives."

This whole collection is staying with me; the lyric, exposition, narrative, the Map of Home at the end. A few poems I keep thinking about: "ars poetica with waning memory," "from Adaptation Portraits (strange cartographies)" and the series of "in which you do not ask the state of israel to commit suicide."

[expertbooksmuggler · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who doesn't read a lot of poetry, this book occasionally requires extra focus and consideration to understand what is being said. Nevertheless, it is effective in evoking emotion as you read through the author's struggles of identity- what it is to be Palestinian, Palestinian America, a queer Palestinian American, and all of the ways those identities intersect.

There is a brutality in this book that stems from pain. It is often both hard and soft, casual and exploring depths that bring about more questions and considerations once you've made it there.

Highly recommend!

[Razan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“…in any case, your oppressor has successfully engineered a reality in which you cannot see yourself existing… to ask the oppressor to stop killing your people would be to ask the impossible; would be to beg wine out of a water that has failed you. Your ancestors have tried, time and time again. And failed.

Hence, you are trapped, by necessity, in this unsolvable binary between what is owed and what is realistic; between what is deserved and what is expected…in any case, the blood is always on your hands.

In any case, the blood is always your own.”

Brilliant, raw, & daring poetry. 🩶

[Aaron Aceves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is inventive, humorous, tragic. It contains stunningly beautiful language and innovative scientific premises. The only reason it wasn't a five-star read for me was the fact that some of the poems' experimental forms were a bit off-putting and I felt obscured their message. I know that was intentional, but I really do wonder what some of the poems would have looked like if they were more straightforward. That being said, I was wildly inspired by this.

[Kelsey Ghantous · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is one that I would add to my small list of reading that I believe should be “required reading.”

Abraham writes with a brilliance I have yet to see, with genius and heart that cannot be contained within the page. I will definitely be returning back to this one.

So many important stories in here, and with the queer middle eastern representation I have been looking for.

This is Palestinian liberation in the most beautiful way. ❤️

[Izzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels wrong to give something (so gut-wrenching, authentic, personal, words I can't think of right now?) like this a rating. To be queer, Palestinian, non-binary, raised in amerikkka, and more -- George Abraham puts so many experiences onto paper and shares such intimate thoughts.

Normally I'm able to list several poems that I really enjoyed but the entire book needs to be read all together. I borrowed this from my local library but I will definitely be purchasing my own copy soon.

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ambitious collection that was bloated at times; relied heavily on inter- and intra-poetic repetition, generally to really generative effect. My favorite moments were the visual poems toward the end, and (especially) the lyric-essayistic fragments scattered throughout. While I understand why all of this material was compiled into one book, I think it may have been stronger cut down by 30-40 pages.

[DeeSoul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Birthright is a collection that is rich with invention. I appreciate the way Abraham's work resists and works outside of linearity, prompting us toward an evaluation of history that operates outside a simple cause & effect. This collection, however, does not shy away from naming the violence and its actors that make the poems possible. Much of the work here asks us to reexamine the violences that happen daily and uphold these regimes. What, if anything, can language do to combat empire?