Kingdom of olives and ash : writers confront the occupation / Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon, editors ; Moriel Rothman-Zecher, associate editor.

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction / Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon -- The Dovekeeper / Geraldine Brooks -- One's own people / Jacqueline Woodson -- Bloated time and the death of meaning / Ala Hlehel -- Giant in a cage / Michael Chabon -- The land in winter / Madeleine Thien -- Mr. nice guy / Rachel Kushner -- Sami / Raja Shehadeh -- Occupied words / Lars Saabye Christensen -- Prison visit / Dave Eggers -- Sumud / Emily Raboteau -- Journey to the West Bank / Mario Vargas Llosa -- Playing for Palestine / Assaf Gavron -- Love in the time of Qalandiya / Taiye Selasi -- Imagining Jericho / Colm T́óibín -- The end of reasons / Eimear McBride -- High places / Hari Kunzru -- Storyland / Lorraine Adams -- The separation wall / Helon Habila -- A hundred children / Eva Menasse -- Visible, invisible : two worlds / Anita Desai -- Hip-hop is not dead / Porochista Khakpour -- Occupation's untold story / Fida Jiryis -- An unsuitable place for clowns / Arnon Grunberg -- Justice, justice you shall pursue / Ayelet Waldman -- Two stories, so many stories / Colum McCann -- H2 / Maylis De Kerangal.

A groundbreaking collection of essays by celebrated international writers bears witness to the human cost of fifty years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, two of today's most renowned novelists and essayists, have teamed up with the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence--an organization comprised of former Israeli soldiers who served in the occupied territories and saw firsthand the injustice there--and a host of illustrious writers to tell the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories. Kingdom of Olives and Ash includes contributions from several of today's most esteemed storytellers including: Colum McCann, Jacqueline Woodson, Colm Toibin, Geraldine Brooks, Dave Eggers, Hari Kunzru, Raja Shehadeh, Mario Vargas Llosa and Assaf Gavron, as well as from editors Chabon and Waldman. Through these incisive, perceptive, and poignant essays, readers will gain unique insight into the narratives behind the litany of grim destruction broadcasted nightly on the news, as well as deeper understanding of the conflict as experienced by the people who live in the occupied territories. Together, these stories stand witness to the human cost of the occupation.