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Naama Goldstein

@naamagoldstein.bsky.social
59 followers 85 following 30 posts

Boston-Based Novelist, Short Story & Nonfiction Writer. Author of the acclaimed short-story collection, The Place Will Comfort you. www.naamagoldstein.com www.linkedin.com/in/naama-goldstein…

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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
On the first Sunday of September ‘26, the three surviving family members of Gazan author Heba Al-Madhoun read three of her poems in a Boston living room #Gaza #LiteraryTranslation #Poetry naamag.substack.com/p/captiva-is...
naamag.substack.com
“Captiva” is Written in the First Person
On the first Sunday of September ‘26, the three surviving family members of Gazan author Heba Al-Madhoun read three of her poems in a Boston living room
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
from The Narrowest Category of Gazan Genocide Victims: "The eschatologist and oligarch and fascist enjoy a shared permutation of amnesia. The rewards eclipse all horrors." #Poetry #PalestinianPoetry #Translation #ArabicLiterature #PoetryInTranslation #WorldLiterature #Gaza
naamag.substack.com
The Narrowest Category of Gazan Genocide Victims
Considering the tragic chronology prompting my friendship with a Gazan survivor
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
"Paradoxically or not, while governed by his overwhelming sense of threat, the furious chimp does not consider that he represents an endangered species. He has no access to this wisdom. He is able to forget, even, that he hurts his closest kin." #Peace #ConflictResolution #PoetsandWriters
naamag.substack.com
A Random Hominid Responds to the Chimp Civil War
I am not a naturalist, so make of it what you will when I implore us to find our way out of the mindset of outraged chimps.
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
"Another very risky emergency mode, a profound vacuity. An emptied character will keep you busy. This degree of automation can be seen as a disciplined practice, a transcendent faith, a superhuman confidence, a vengeful zeal." #GazaPoetry naamag.substack.com/p/after-the-...
naamag.substack.com
After the Tribute
I am sharing these words just a few days after the tribute to Gazan poet Heba Al-Madhoun. Because of the tribute, I am still seeing Heba’s surviving children listening to their mother’s verses at a bi...
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
My disinclination to interrogate genocide survivors can be reframed as an ethic. The forbiddance is this: Do not press devastated people into reportage. A rule I’ll undermine, of course. I mention backgammon. #GazaPoetry #Poetry #Translation #Backgammon naamag.substack.com/p/backgammon...
naamag.substack.com
Backgammon and Chocolate
As we plan the June 7th tribute to Gazan writer Heba Al-Madhoun, a breakfast meeting mixes sorrow with hope
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Be a Phoenix: A Tribute to Gazan Poet Heba Al-Madhoun Sunday, June 7th, Cambridge, MA USA #Poetry #PalestinianPoetry #Translation #ArabicLiterature #ArabicEnglishTranslation #PoetryInTranslation #LiteraryTranslation #PoetsAndWriters #WorldLiterature givebutter.com/heba-memorial
givebutter.com
Be a Phoenix: a Tribute to Gazan Poet Heba Al-Madhoun
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
"A milestone: The first batch of translations has been edited to represent Heba’s poetic voice faithfully, per her husband." #Poetry #PalestinianPoetry #Translation #ArabicLiterature #ArabicEnglishTranslation #PoetryInTranslation #WorldLiterature #Gaza naamag.substack.com/p/a-poet-an-...
naamag.substack.com
A Poet, an Oudist, a Dancer, a Superheroine, and a Lexicographer
Another report on the writing life of a Boston author raised in Israel, focused at present on the translation into English of late Gazan poet Heba Al-Madhoun’s surviving manuscript
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
In a chapter cultivating numb detachment and unchecked aggression, we deepen our engagement and sharpen our sense of kinship. #Poetry #PalestinianPoetry #Translation #ArabicLiterature #ArabicEnglishTranslation #PoetryInTranslation #LiteraryTranslation #PoetsAndWriters #WorldLiterature
naamag.substack.com
Why I'm Committed to the Translation of Late Gazan Poet Heba Al-Madhoun
Greetings to the New Wave of Readers
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
"In a time after their only sons have fledged, two Northeastern women click and sustain the bond once one has divorced and the other is widowed. They should have been watching that toddler when he drowned. They should have kept him out of harm’s way." naamag.substack.com/p/a-wealth-o...
naamag.substack.com
A Wealth of Sage (Nonfiction)
a true-to-life allegory about the rote denial of atrocities and the struggle to reckon with misleadership
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
On behalf of late Gazan poet Heba Al-Madhoun's brother-in-law, Mohammed Hmaid Abu Mousa, and in rememberance of his child, Youssef, consider lending your support: www.gofundme.com/f/honoring-y...
gofundme.com
Donate to Help a Gaza Father Rebuild After Losing Curly-Haired Youssef, organized by Shaimaa Khader
Mohammed Hmaid Abu Mousa is a father whose life was shattered… Shaimaa Khader needs your support for Help a Gaza Father Rebuild After Losing Curly-Haired Youssef
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
"An apparent indifference to our story’s dishonorable moments disrupts the group conscience. And what is conscience, if not the sensible steward whose grip on the present is firmed by honest hindsight and loving forethought." naamag.substack.com/p/a-wealth-o... #Gaza #Poetry #Writers #Translation
naamag.substack.com
A Wealth of Sage (Nonfiction)
a true-to-life allegory about the rote denial of atrocities and the struggle to reckon with misleadership
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
"For some years I petitioned my husband for candor. He was too daunted. The remembered horror played a part, and the enduring sorrow, the indissoluble shame." naamag.substack.com/p/a-wealth-o...
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
"A Wealth of Sage," another reflection prompted by the project to translate the work of late Gazan poet Heba Al-Madhoun. open.substack.com/pub/naamag/p... #Gaza #Palestine #Palestinianwriters #Literature #Poetry #Writers #Writingcommunity #Translation
open.substack.com
A Wealth of Sage (Nonfiction)
a true-to-life allegory about the rote denial of atrocities and the struggle to reckon with misleadership
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
About the project to translate Gazan author Heba Al-Madhoun's surviving poetry manuscript; some backstory and a glimpse at the emerging work. www.naamagoldstein.com/post/green-b... #Gaza #Palestine #Palestinianwriters #Literature #Poetry #Writers #Writingcommunity #Translation
naamagoldstein.com
Green Birds in Jerusalem: On Translating Gazan Poet Heba Al-Madhoun
https://tinyurl.com/TranslateHeba I’ve been entrusted to translate a Gazan poet’s manuscript, which I can’t read. I speak almost no Arabic and can’t decipher a single letter. I was not taught the Arab...
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
www.gofundme.com/f/translate-...
gofundme.com
Donate to Translate Gazan Poet Heba Al-Madhoun, organized by Naama Goldstein
The world lost an important voice when Gazan author Heba Al-Madhoun was killed in… Naama Goldstein needs your support for Translate Gazan Poet Heba Al-Madhoun
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
"Hear the hail of falling fruit, a sound unlike that of icy pellets striking an apartment windowpane, but there is a similarity." Read the full blog entry. #MiddleEast #Israel #Palestine #Memoir
naamagoldstein.com
A Hail of Olives (Erev Rosh HaShana 5786)
Dedicated to ProPeaceBoston As I advanced through childhood and youth in a city of the Israeli interior, the few Palestinians sharing my daily routes were construction workers or patients reporting to...
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
"For the record, the frog says. I disagree with the movements of liberation as enunciated in the legend involving the frog plague. Incredible that I should have to say it. Frogs are not your equipment." Excerpt from the forthcoming novel, The Truancy Bible by Naama Goldstein #writerscommunity #books
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
"To the objective observer, our expert says, the multiple brides in the Biblical arrangement do not land the sweetest deal....." #writingcommunity #books #authors www.linkedin.com/posts/naama-...
linkedin.com
Naama Goldstein on LinkedIn: #writerscommunity #women
"To the objective observer, our expert says, the multiple brides in the Biblical arrangement do not land the sweetest deal. I would suggest that the wife is…
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
"The reticent person of a curious bent appreciates the semi-isolation in an open container." Excerpt from the forthcoming novel, The Truancy Bible, by Naama Goldstein #books #writerscommunity #literature #publishing
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
"This is sad. An old lady advancing an old man’s script. An old womb enlisted. Having the miracle baby. Hosting the weaning feast. Schooling the next clown...." Excerpt from the forthcoming darkly comic novel, The Truancy Bible, by Naama Goldstein #booklovers #history #authors #novel #publishing
Police boots warn by an old lady advancing an old man’s script.
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
"A religionist language. He chose me. He sent me. Do as He says...." Excerpt from the forthcoming novel, The Truancy Bible, by Naama Goldstein #literature #fantasy #culture #books
"A religionist language. He chose me. He sent me. Do as He says.
 A frog in her pocket. A moribund amphibian sustaining a newsman's alertness."

Excerpt from the forthcoming novel, The Truancy Bible, by Naama Goldstein
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
#caturday #novel
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
"Coming at it from the religionist angle I anticipate a punishment of such severity as will prompt in a Sabbath breaker the proportionate regret...." www.linkedin.com/posts/naama-...
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
"Of course no day camper refuses to play the antagonist whose defeat is foreknown, the frog says..... From the forthcoming darkly comic novel, The Truancy Bible, by Naama Goldstein #books #novel #fiction #writingcommunity #middleeast #culture
"Of course no day camper refuses to play the antagonist whose defeat is foreknown, the frog says. In the summer camp games no loss or victory is foreknown. These are just team names. Competitive types fight hard from either side, and the personality averse to competition is unhappy with whatever assignment. Whether Arab or Founder, still you are forced into a mode of being alien to you personally. A contest is a misery in your experience. Not at all for you this aspirational system wherein some must lose so others win. A desperation induced, a cruelty inheres.”

Excerpt from the forthcoming novel, The Truancy Bible, by Naama Goldstein
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
"Into the farthermost desert where a city girl has no business..." #writing #publishing #books #fiction
"Into the farthermost desert where a city girl has no business. The basic survival equipment, absent. Two canteens and a hat, Seema hasn’t got these. And her shoes are all wrong for the farthermost desert. Glistering shoe uppers, no longer. Glamour cancelled."

Excerpt from the forthcoming darkly comic novel, The Truancy Bible, by Naama Goldstein
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
#fiction #books #cats #middleeast
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
"Essentially the gray crow is a black crow abiding by a dress code requiring a gray vest...." Excerpt from the forthcoming novel, The Truancy Bible by Naama Goldstein #fiction #books #writers #history
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
"A cormorant when it’s not drying out the wings is single-mindedly possessed by the investigative project excluding no depth." Excerpt from The Truancy Bible, a forthcoming novel by Naama Goldstein #fiction #authors #books #publishing
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
"For the record, the frog says. I disagree with the movements of liberation as enunciated in the legend involving the frog plague. Incredible that I should have to say it. Frogs are not your equipment." Excerpt from the forthcoming novel, The Truancy Bible by Naama Goldstein #fiction #books
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Naama Goldstein @naamagoldstein.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
"The fanatical normal. A binding code, a tight regulation, a complex regimentation. A consuming to-do list. The creative character is not advised to relocate here, our expert says. Zero give in your instructions. One model of behavior. To live in obedience. " Excerpt from The Truancy Bible #books
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