Samah Sabawi, award-winning author, playwright, and poet, joins Mel Fulton to discuss her latest novel, Cactus Pear for My Beloved. The novel spans 100 years of her family’s history, from Palestine under British rule to the moment of her birth in 1967 Queensland. Described as a ‘post-memory’ novel, it blends fiction with meticulously researched historical events, offering a personal lens into the broader Palestinian experience.

Sabawi's mission is to decolonise art through resistance, using stories to challenge dominant narratives. 

“My father often tried to find cactus pear wherever we were and would peel it for my mum. It was an act of love, a reflection of their love language.”

Photo Credit: Andrew Campbell