Conversation in English with subtitles available in English, Dutch and French.

This interview was recorded before the August 4 explosion in Beirut.

Mazen Maarouf (1978) is a Palestinian-Icelandic author, poet, translator and journalist. He is the son of Palestinian refugees and grew up in Lebanon. He has already published three collections of poetry that have been translated into numerous languages. His collection of short stories, Jokes for the Gunmen, has been praised by readers and press alike and was translated in 10 languages.

“What I loved about the lockdown is that you have all these artists who were just people who never did art before. And then they came up with videos on social media, video art that is very natural and very creative. So it triggered this creative side in some people and I think this is one of the good things. Art, reading, communicating with people, sharing stories... these are all great forms of soothing the horror and the trauma.”

"We can't step into any future without social justice."