This event will be streamed online as part of our P&P Live! Series.
On a hot day in Bethlehem, a 12-year-old Palestinian-American girl is yelled at by a group of men outside the Church of the Nativity. She has exposed her legs in a biblical city, an act they deem forbidden, and their judgement will echo on through her adolescence. When our narrator finally admits to her mother that she is queer, her mother's response only intensifies a sense of shame: "You exist too much," she tells her daughter.
Opening up the fantasies and desires of one young woman caught between cultural, religious, and sexual identities, Zaina Arafat's You Exist Too Much is a captivating story charting two of our most intense longings--for love, and a place to call home.
Arafat will be in conversation with Rachel Yoder, author of the debut novel Nightbitch, forthcoming from Doubleday in June 2021. She is the co-founder of draft: the journal of process and a senior agent at The Tuesday Agency. Find links to her writing and more about her book at racheljyoder.com.
Instead of a set ticket price, we ask that you contribute what you can to support Politics and Prose Bookstore and our virtual event series. We know that everyone has been affected in these trying times, and we will continue to make our programming accessible to all. That said, a suggested contribution of $5, $10, whatever you can afford, will go a long way to keep our programming—and our bookstore—afloat as we are forced to adapt to new ways of business.
The other way you can support us is always by purchasing a book from our website.
We are so grateful to be surrounded by such a loyal and engaged community and we thank you for your support, now and always.
Click here to join the Live! Event.
