The Nightmare Sequence - by Omar Skar (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An extraordinary collaboration by an award-winning duo--poet Omar Sakr and visual artist Safdar Ahmed-that bears witness to the genocide in Gaza.

The Nightmare Sequence is a searing response to the atrocities in Gaza and beyond since October 2023. Heartbreaking and humane, it is a necessary portrait of the violence committed by Israel and its Western allies. Through poetry and visual art, Omar Sakr and Safdar Ahmed capture these historic injustices, while also critiquing the role of art and media--including their own--in this time. Born of collective suffering and despair, their collaboration interrogates the position of witness: the terrible and helpless distance of vision, the impact of being exposed to violence of this scale on a daily basis, and what it means to live in a society that is actively participating in the catastrophic destruction of Arabs and Muslims overseas. With a foreword by Palestinian American poet George Abraham, this book will serve as a vital record in decades to come.

Review Quotes

"Only a poet as exceptional as Omar Sakr can write our nightmares from within the nightmare--becoming our voice, our very body in the massacre. The Nightmare Sequence left me stunned with gratitude and the deepest emotions that poetry can reveal."

--Najwan Darwish

"Read cover to cover, it evokes Sakr's excruciating, sometimes bewildered, experience of bearing daily witness from afar . . . As the people of Palestine continue to suffer systemic violence and dehumanisation, this is urgent, essential work."

--The Guardian

"A searing response to the endless deluge of atrocities that have been committed in Gaza by Israeli forces since October 2023. A stark and painful interrogation of the act of witnessing . . ."

--Lit Hub

"With profound love and deep sorrow, paper and ink, words and images, Omar Sakr and Safdar Ahmed have created the story of our time. Each page of The Nightmare Sequence presents a provocative offering. Do we read, look and think? Do we experience anger and shame? Do we feel the tenacity of the people of Gaza? Will we remember their dead? Will we condemn the killers? Or will we move on? Move away and seek the sunshine?"

--Tony Birch

"This is one of the most profound and transformative creative projects I've ever encountered: I felt both completely devastated and completely renewed by it. Birthed from and through a genocide, The Nightmare Sequence is an astonishingly original collaboration by two artists who are committed to the intimacies of humanity, the details of injustice, and uncompromising truth-telling. In a world that has rejected the Arab as being worthy of life and dignity, read this book to be reminded of the generosity and love of artists who insist on bearing witness to the trauma and humanity of Palestinians.."

--Randa Abdel-Fattah

"Sakr is one of our essential poets."

--Kwame Dawes

"[Still Alive] brought me to tears--it is a moving and profoundly important work of art."

--Isobelle Carmody

About the Author

Omar Sakr is a poet and writer born in Western Sydney to Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants. He is the acclaimed author of the novel Son of Sin and three poetry collections, including The Lost Arabs, which won the 2020 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Poetry. His most recent collection, Non-Essential Work, was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize and the ALS Gold Medal. His nonfiction work has been published widely, including in The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and SBS Life.

Safdar Ahmed is an award-winning artist, writer, musician and cultural worker. His graphic novel Still Alive won the Multicultural NSW Award and was named Book of the Year in the 2022 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Still Alive also won the 2022 Eve Pownall Award and a Gold Ledger in the 2022 Comic Arts Awards of Australia.