On August 4, 2020 a tragic explosion in Beirut, Lebanon killed at least 155 people and injured over 5000 more. The disaster, blamed on 2,750 tonnes of stored ammonium nitrate, hit the city at a time when Lebanon's national economy was suffering, food prices were soaring, and the pandemic was taking its own harsh toll on daily life.
Now, a group of eminent Arab-Australian authors is banding together to auction off a set of fifteen critically-acclaimed books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry to help relief efforts in Lebanon. All funds raised from the auction, run by Western Sydney's Sweatshop Literacy Movement, will be donated to Impact Lebanon, a charity organisation raising money for disaster relief.
The set is perfect for the literature fans among us: it features well-known modern Australian classics like Randa Abdel-Fattah's Does My Head Look Big in This?, a rare, out-of-print edition of White Nation by Australian academic Ghassan Hage, and Miles Franklin finalist Michael Mohammed Ahmad's The Lebs, as well as notable contemporary works like Yumna Kassab's Stella Prize-longlisted The House of Youssef, Ruby Hamad's White Tears, Brown Scars and Omar Sakr's poetry collection, The Lost Arabs.
Along with this impressive set of works by established and rising stars in Australia's literary scene, the collection also includes a framed, limited-edition print, titled 'Layla and Samira' (30cm x 30cm) by Archibald Prize-shortlisted artist, Amani Haydar.
Bid on the collection here.