‘Against barbarity,’ wrote the celebrated Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (1942-2008) ‘poetry can resist only by cultivating an attachment to human fragility, like a blade of grass growing on a wall as armies march by.’ A Blade of Grass brings together, in English and in Arabic, new work by poets from the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, from the Palestinian diaspora and from within the disputed borders of Israel. Including poems by Maya Abu Alhayyat, Shahid NWA and Fady Joudah, it represents part of the flourishing cultural resistance of the Palestinian people to decades of displacement, occupation, exile and bombardment. Voices fresh and seasoned converse with history, sing to the land, and courageously nurture an attachment to human fragility. Written in hip-hop rhythms, free verse and in traditional forms, these poems bear witness both to catastrophe and to the powerful determination to survive it.Blades of Grass includes new poems by Ashraf Fayadh, currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia on charges of apostasy, sentenced to eight years and 800 lashes. A percentage of the sales of this book will be donated to English PEN’s campaign for Fayadh’s release.

A meteor known as Lucifer''s Hammer is about to wreak destruction on the earth, and with the end of the world imminent, there is only one safe place to be. In the mountains above Seoul, American-Korean bio-engineer Dr Kim Da Mi thinks she has found the perfect solution to save the human race. But her methods are strange and her business partner, Johnny Sandman, is not exactly the type of person anyone would want to mix with. Drawn in by their smiles and pretty promises, Sydney - a Canadian model trying to escape an unhappy past - is an integral part of their scheme, until she realises that the quest for perfection comes at an impossible price.

Is-land is a Gaian paradise in the middle of a blasted world - but its success comes at a dark price.Like every child in Is-Land, all Astra Ordott has ever wanted is to get her Security Shot, do her National Service and defend her Gaian homeland from Non-Lander ''infiltrators''. But when one of her Shelter mothers, the formidable Dr Hokma Blesser, tells her the shot will limit her chances of becoming a scientist and offers her an alternative, Astra agrees to her plan.Then the orphaned Lil arrives to share Astra''s home and Astra is torn between jealousy and fascination. Lil''s father taught her some alarming ideas about Is-Land and the world, but when she pushes Astra too far, the heartache that results goes far beyond the loss of a friend. If she is to survive, Astra must learn to deal with devastating truths about Is-Land, Non-Land and the secret web of adult relationships that surrounds her . . . or her actions could bring the whole community toppling down.

Astra Ordott tried - and failed - to deny her destiny. The final installment in the critically-acclaimed SF quartet ''for Hunger Games fans of all ages'' (Library Journal). Perfect for fans of Ursula K. Le Guin, Joan Slonczewski and Joyce Carol Oates. For ten years Astra Ordott has lived as a traitor, hated by most of her fellow prisoners and abused by the guards. She made the ultimate sacrifice to save those she loved, voluntarily giving up her freedom when she handed herself over to the Is-Land authorities. Now long-simmering conflicts are beginning to boil over again as the wider world faces devastating threats both old and new. Non-Land and Is-Land are further from reunification than ever. Outside Astra''s fortified Gaian homeland, an infertility crisis is threatening the survival of the human race, while the world''s reliance on rare earth metals is infuriating the ancient spirits of the planet.Astra may have found her voice as a messenger of cosmic harmony - but is anyone listening?

Is Astra ready to accept her destiny? A gripping novel for ''Hunger Games fans of all ages'' says Library Journal. War is breaking out in Kadingir. Still struggling to accept her role as a long prophesied icon of unification between Is-Land and Non-Land, Astra Ordott is on a journey across the wind sands to join her father and his people - the mystics of Shiimti, who claim to hold the secret of truly healing the damaged relationship between human beings and the Earth.Astra''s desperate to get there quickly, but when her guide and companion, the shepherd Muzi, leads her off course into the path of a vicious sandstorm, she is forced to confront what the gods of their devastated world might be telling her: that there will be no refuge from her destiny.

Astra has escaped her enemies, and left behind her friends. But in this new, disorientating world, can she trust anyone?Astra Ordott is in exile. Evicted from Is-Land for a crime she cannot regret, she has found work in an ancient fortress in Non-Land: headquarters of the Council of New Continents, the global body charged with providing humanitarian aid to the inhabitants of this toxic refugee camp. Recovering from a disorienting course of Memory Pacification Treatment, Astra struggles to focus on her overriding goals - to find her Code father and avenge the death of her Shelter mother, Hokma. But can the CONC compound director, the ambiguous Major Thames, protect her from the hawk-eyed attentions of her old enemies? And who in this world of competing agendas can she trust? The deeper Astra ventures into this new world, the more she realises her true quest may be to find herself.

‘Against barbarity,’ wrote the celebrated Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (1942-2008) ‘poetry can resist only by cultivating an attachment to human fragility, like a blade of grass growing on a wall as armies march by.’ A Blade of Grass brings together, in English and in Arabic, new work by poets from the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, from the Palestinian diaspora and from within the disputed borders of Israel. Including poems by Maya Abu Alhayyat, Shahid NWA and Fady Joudah, it represents part of the flourishing cultural resistance of the Palestinian people to decades of displacement, occupation, exile and bombardment. Voices fresh and seasoned converse with history, sing to the land, and courageously nurture an attachment to human fragility. Written in hip-hop rhythms, free verse and in traditional forms, these poems bear witness both to catastrophe and to the powerful determination to survive it.Blades of Grass includes new poems by Ashraf Fayadh, currently imprisoned in Saudi Arabia on charges of apostasy, sentenced to eight years and 800 lashes. A percentage of the sales of this book will be donated to English PEN’s campaign for Fayadh’s release.

A meteor known as Lucifer''s Hammer is about to wreak destruction on the earth, and with the end of the world imminent, there is only one safe place to be. In the mountains above Seoul, American-Korean bio-engineer Dr Kim Da Mi thinks she has found the perfect solution to save the human race. But her methods are strange and her business partner, Johnny Sandman, is not exactly the type of person anyone would want to mix with. Drawn in by their smiles and pretty promises, Sydney - a Canadian model trying to escape an unhappy past - is an integral part of their scheme, until she realises that the quest for perfection comes at an impossible price.

Is-land is a Gaian paradise in the middle of a blasted world - but its success comes at a dark price.Like every child in Is-Land, all Astra Ordott has ever wanted is to get her Security Shot, do her National Service and defend her Gaian homeland from Non-Lander ''infiltrators''. But when one of her Shelter mothers, the formidable Dr Hokma Blesser, tells her the shot will limit her chances of becoming a scientist and offers her an alternative, Astra agrees to her plan.Then the orphaned Lil arrives to share Astra''s home and Astra is torn between jealousy and fascination. Lil''s father taught her some alarming ideas about Is-Land and the world, but when she pushes Astra too far, the heartache that results goes far beyond the loss of a friend. If she is to survive, Astra must learn to deal with devastating truths about Is-Land, Non-Land and the secret web of adult relationships that surrounds her . . . or her actions could bring the whole community toppling down.

Astra Ordott tried - and failed - to deny her destiny. The final installment in the critically-acclaimed SF quartet ''for Hunger Games fans of all ages'' (Library Journal). Perfect for fans of Ursula K. Le Guin, Joan Slonczewski and Joyce Carol Oates. For ten years Astra Ordott has lived as a traitor, hated by most of her fellow prisoners and abused by the guards. She made the ultimate sacrifice to save those she loved, voluntarily giving up her freedom when she handed herself over to the Is-Land authorities. Now long-simmering conflicts are beginning to boil over again as the wider world faces devastating threats both old and new. Non-Land and Is-Land are further from reunification than ever. Outside Astra''s fortified Gaian homeland, an infertility crisis is threatening the survival of the human race, while the world''s reliance on rare earth metals is infuriating the ancient spirits of the planet.Astra may have found her voice as a messenger of cosmic harmony - but is anyone listening?

Is Astra ready to accept her destiny? A gripping novel for ''Hunger Games fans of all ages'' says Library Journal. War is breaking out in Kadingir. Still struggling to accept her role as a long prophesied icon of unification between Is-Land and Non-Land, Astra Ordott is on a journey across the wind sands to join her father and his people - the mystics of Shiimti, who claim to hold the secret of truly healing the damaged relationship between human beings and the Earth.Astra''s desperate to get there quickly, but when her guide and companion, the shepherd Muzi, leads her off course into the path of a vicious sandstorm, she is forced to confront what the gods of their devastated world might be telling her: that there will be no refuge from her destiny.

Astra has escaped her enemies, and left behind her friends. But in this new, disorientating world, can she trust anyone?Astra Ordott is in exile. Evicted from Is-Land for a crime she cannot regret, she has found work in an ancient fortress in Non-Land: headquarters of the Council of New Continents, the global body charged with providing humanitarian aid to the inhabitants of this toxic refugee camp. Recovering from a disorienting course of Memory Pacification Treatment, Astra struggles to focus on her overriding goals - to find her Code father and avenge the death of her Shelter mother, Hokma. But can the CONC compound director, the ambiguous Major Thames, protect her from the hawk-eyed attentions of her old enemies? And who in this world of competing agendas can she trust? The deeper Astra ventures into this new world, the more she realises her true quest may be to find herself.