Given what’s going on with the Israel-Hamas War, and how some people have reacted to it, it would be understandable if the editor of a short story anthology by Palestinian writers said something about how their collection shows that Palestinians are people, too.
But in the following email interview about Thyme Travellers: An Anthology Of Palestinian Speculative Fiction (paperback, Kindle), editor Sonia Sulaiman says that while it features “…writers who identify as Palestinian in the diaspora,” she notes that, “…none of these stories are meant to ‘humanize’ us. We’re already human.”
Obviously, given the name, Thyme Travellers: An Anthology Of Palestinian Speculative Fiction is full of science fiction short stories by Palestinian writers. But just to be clear, are we talking about people of Palestinian descent, regardless of where they live, or does it only have Palestinians who currently live in Palestine?
Thyme Travellers features writers who identify as Palestinian in the diaspora.
I initially wanted to collect stories by writers in Palestine as well, but I think the way I framed the call for submissions did not translate as well as I had hoped. We got a lot of excellent, though not speculative, pieces from Palestine that I had to reject.
As for the stories themselves, were they written specifically for Thyme Travellers or are they reprints of older stories? Or a mix?
The stories are original except for one notable reprint, Nadia Shammas’ “The Centre Of The Universe.”
For the new stories in Thyme Travellers, how did you find them? You mentioned a call for submissions….
The collection was a combination of solicited stories from a core group of Palestinian writers that I had been working with, and an open call. I was very pleased by the strength of the stories that came in. It made my job very pleasant.
And then for the one reprint, why did decide to include it in a collection of otherwise original stories?
“The Centre Of The Universe” by Nadia Shammas was a story that I wanted to collect because it was part of this landmark year for the Palestinian speculative. Time constraints also meant Nadia could not contribute an original story, as she had planned, so we agreed to feature this wonderful story as a reprint.
Nadia Shammas
What other parameters did these stories have to fit? Were there word count limitations, or some other conditions?
I left the genre questions open, but the word count was set to between 1500 and 6000 words. There’s a combination of short stories as well as some flash fiction.
Obviously, the stories in Thyme Travellers are speculative fiction. But what other genres are represented?
There are some romantic elements to some of the stories, which I won’t go into here because they might be considered spoilers.
Along with editing Thyme Travellers, you also included one of your own stories, “The Forty.” What is “The Forty” about, and when and where is it set?
“The Forty” is about a group of Palestinian descendants in an exilarchy of sorts. They are not refugees per se, but their experience maps very closely to that of refugees. These are people who re-enact a pilgrimage together, a continent-spanning journey that bestows supernatural insights and powers — most of the time. It is set in my own world which is inspired by Palestinian folklore, and its implied that it takes place in the far, far future.
I also have to ask: Who came up with the name Thyme Travellers? Cuz that’s pretty genius.
Thank you! I came up with the name. It was going to just be the working title, and I sort of threatened the world that I’d use it…and before I knew what was happening, it had already stuck to the project.
So, do you think there’s anything unique or distinct about speculative fiction written by Palestinians? Something uniquely Palestinian? Or is it the opposite: that someone reading Thyme Travellers will realize there is no difference?
There’s an ongoing debate in Palestinian literature circles about to what extent all of our literature is speculative. I think the clearest example of this is how any history told from the point of view of the colonized and marginalized is, in effect, alternate history because it narratives across and against a dominant narrative. There’s some concern that such a view also plays into tropes of our history being “made up” though. I get a lot of comments along the lines of how my work is funny because I, as a Palestinian, do not exist.
Speaking of which, for some people, Palestine is a touchy subject, and was even before the Israel-Hamas War started last October. First, when in relation to the war starting on October 7th did you finish assembling Thyme Travellers?
Oh, Thyme Travellers was begun almost two years before. It began as an experiment in a Palestinian shared world anthology. I wanted to see what world(s) Palestinians would create together. That is when the core group formed. We did some preliminary brainstorming together but the shared world aspect didn’t come together. So, we transitioned into a more traditional anthology.
Did the war and things that happened during it have any impact on Thyme Travellers, either collectively or in individual stories?
The genocide in Gaza hit me very hard. We were already well passed the point of editing Thyme Travellers by then. I was supposed to write a preface, which I did. But it was incredibly difficult because my feelings and thoughts about it were so in flux. It felt like I was going atemporal. Even now, I feel like it’s a document from another time and place.
So, how do you think Thyme Travellers might’ve been different if you started working on it now as opposed to when you did? Or would that not have mattered?
I am working on a follow-up anthology which probably answers this question. It’s called The Apocryphal, and it’s an anthology of dark fiction, in the vein of Never Whistle At Night: Indigenous Dark Fiction by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. Processing so much pain and grief is an overwhelming task. It feels right somehow to do it together.
Hollywood loves adapting short stories into movies. Are there any stories in Thyme Travellers that you think would work really well as a movie?
We have had some interest in adapting stories from Thyme Travellers. There are quite a few strong candidates for an adaptation.
If I had to pick one story that I would adapt, it would probably be “The Memory Chip” by Nadia Afifi. It’s one of the stories in this book which marries the speculative and the intimate in a really beautiful way.
So, is there anything else you think people might need to know about Thyme Travellers?
It was important to me that these writers were free to write about Palestine, if they chose, but also to not write about Palestine. So, while some stories are very explicitly set in Palestine, or are about being Palestinian, some are not. The themes might suggest that there’s something inherently Palestinian about all of the stories. But none of these stories are meant to “humanize” us. We’re already human.
Finally, if someone enjoys Thyme Travellers, what geographically-based collection of speculative fiction short stories that someone else edited would you suggest they check out?
If they want to read more Palestinian short speculative fiction, I’d recommend Palestine +100 from Comma Press or Never Whistle At Night, which I already mentioned, and which is incredibly good.
