OUR BOOKS
Head Above Water

PUBLICATION DATE: May 30, 2022
PAPERBACK ISBN: 9781911107408
HARDBACK ISBN: 9781911107392
EBOOK ISBN: 9781911107415
AUDIOBOOK ISBN: 9781911107422
Collection: Neem Tree Press
Head Above Water
By
Shahd Alshammari
Cover designed by James Jones
Head Above Water takes us into a space of intimate conversations on illness and society’s stigmatization of disabled bodies. We are invited in to ask the big questions about life, loss, and the place of the other. The narrative builds a bridge that reminds us of our common humanity and weaves the threads that tie us all together. Through conversations about women’s identities, bodies, and our journeys through life, we arrive at a politics of love, survival, and hope.
“This powerful memoir is exquisitely written... It is raw but delicate in how it delves into grooves never explored - the complex challenges of being a Palestinian woman with MS in academia. I am left in awe of Dr Alshammari for her strength, her passion and her honesty.”
Di Lebowitz, Goodreads Reviewer
RELATED NEWS

Head Above Water Longlisted for The Barbellion Prize
Head Above Water by Shahd Alshammari has been longlisted for The Barbellion Prize for writing on illness and disability.
Read more (The Barbellion Prize)
A Conversation with Shahd Alshammari: “Reading and Writing Means Learning to Exist in the World with all its Difficulties.”
In her recently released memoir, Head Above Water, which explores ways of living with one’s body and of dealing with illness and disability, Shahd Alshammari reflects on her personal experience of Multiple Sclerosis. In a region where such issues remain under-discussed, Alshammari takes us “into a space of intimate conversations on illness and society’s stigmatization of disabled bodies”.
Read more (arablit.org)
Between Illness and Exile in “Head Above Water”
Tugrul Mende reviews Head Above Water: Reflections on Illness.
Read more (The Markaz Review)
Shahd Alshammari will be at PRIMADONNA FEST 2022
The 2022 Primadonna Festival Lineup, including Shahd Alshammari, author of Head Above Water.
Read more (Primadonna Festival)
Author Profile – Shahd Alshammari
As a University of Kent Alumna, I studied English Literature with great faculty and scholars of literature. I was inspired by the various scholars I encountered and their research areas. At the same time, I always knew I wanted to write. I started writing poetry, fiction, and finally came to narrative nonfiction.
Read more (The University of Kent)
Shahd Alshammari in Conversation with Mikey Muhanna from Afirkra.
Shahd Alshammari talked about her work as a writer, academic, and researcher in the field of Gulf literature and disability studies with Mikey Muhanna from Afirkra.
Read more (YouTube)
‘Head Above Water’ by Shahd Alshammari – Book Review
Head Above Water is not a memoir but a reflection on illness and it doesn’t just focuses on the narrator’s journey but divulges into the stories of some of her students and peers whose lives have been affected by illness.
Read more (Nasher News)
5 Must Read Memoirs from Disabled Women
In Head Above Water Shahd Alshammari shares her experiences of MS as an Arab woman, confronting the intersection of culture, religion and disability with her personal narrative of illness.
Read more (Refinery29)
If the Body Could Speak: an Interview with Dr Shahd Alshammari
The Publishing Post interviewed Dr Shahd Alshammari about her book Head Above Water, which was published on World MS Day. In this interview, Shahd tells us about how it feels to give marginalised voices a platform, coming to terms with her early diagnosis of MS and how her writing is opening up conversations about disability
Read more (The Publishing Post)
Memoir ‘Head Above Water’ explores multiple sclerosis through the lens of an Arab woman
Kuwaiti-Palestinian writer Shahd Alshammari's new book has been released on World MS Day.
Read more (The National News)
Challenging Narratives on Disability, Womanhood, and Arabness Through Literature: A Memoir from the Gulf
Kuwaiti academic and author Shahd Alshammari reflects on her ground-breaking memoir which challenges the dominant narrative of silence around disability and women’s bodies.
Read more (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
Head Above Water: When illness exiles the mind from the body
Book Club: Assistant professor, academic, and writer Dr Shahd Alshammari talks to The New Arab about her new book, an illness narrative reflecting on living with multiple sclerosis in Kuwait.
Read more (The New Arab)
Disability Research Forum
“Shahd’s sensuous prose explores the manipulation of memory, the question of time, and gender politics…intricacies of love, …body, motherhood, the pervasive power of language, the power of women’s education, and synergy between Professor and student. It is a brave book.” – Jokha Alharthi, Author of Celestial Bodies, winner of the International Man Booker Prize
Read more (Disability Research Forum)The Ideal Woman: How Can Women Embrace Their Womanhood While Being Under The Male Gaze?
Interview with Shahd Alshammari on the Ideal Woman: How Can Women Embrace Their Womanhood While Being Under The Male Gaze?
Read more (Wordgathering.com)
Disabled people exist everywhere – so why aren’t more books written about us?
Shahd Alshammari could not find role models for disabled Arab women in literature, so she set out to write a book that helped tell her story. She felt a need to correct this gap in literature but she also wanted to see more raw stories about those struggling to fit into societies geared towards the able-bodied.
Read more (The National News)
A Kuwaiti Professor Makes Disability Awareness Part of Her Teaching
The voices of people with disabilities are too often absent among scholars and researchers, Alshammari told Al-Fanar Media in an interview via Zoom.
Read more (Al Fanar Media)
Multiple Sclerosis and its Literary Representation: A Talk with Reema Humood
“As a disabled female academic living with (and researching) MS, I sat down with the author to discuss her novel’s gendered elements of disability. In particular, I wanted to know more about her position as abled-bodied author and her choice of MS as the protagonist’s disease.”
Read more (arablit.org)
‘Disability differs when you are an Arab’: Shifting obsolete notions of disability within the Arab world
Disability rights in MENA: Raya al-Jadir, co-founder of disability lifestyle magazine Disability Horizons elaborates on the archaic perception of the disabled within in the Arab World, and what needs to change to encourage a more inclusive future.
Read more (The New Arab)
Twitter
One day in the year 1892, when Edvard Munch was going for a walk near Oslo, the sky turned blood red.
He went home and created one of the most famous works of art in history.
But what is The Scream screaming about?
Children of War, written by Ahmet Yorulmaz and translated by Paula Darwish, is a powerful novel drawn from the diary of a refugee family evoking the beauty, complexity and trauma of Crete’s past.
✨Use code JAN2023 to get 30% off ✨
🔗http://ow.ly/6aNc50Mz6eL
@inpressbooks
This week's theme was London from a Window. Hope you enjoyed it.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
Instagram
neemtreepress
Jan 30
neemtreepress
Jan 29
neemtreepress
Jan 28
neemtreepress
Jan 28
neemtreepress
Jan 27
neemtreepress
Jan 27
neemtreepress
Jan 26
neemtreepress
Jan 26
neemtreepress
Jan 25
Follow Neem Tree Press on Facebook
‘A witty, globally-scoped exposé of corporate greed and environmentalism told through an absorbing character-rich tale.’ LoveReading Recommends
#TheUmbrellaMen by Keith Carter is out now!
⭐Use code JAN2023 to get 30% off with FREE SHIPPING on ALL orders. ⭐
🔗http://ow.ly/czEi50Mz5i6
#fiction #humour #rareearthermetals #bankingcrisis #greentech #climatechange #environmentalists #keithcarter
… See MoreSee Less
Share
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linked In
Share by Email
View Comments
Likes:
0
Shares:
0
Comments:
0
Comment on Facebook
‘This beautiful philosophical tale by Spanish author Rafa Ruiz is suffused with flowing poetic prose. #Toletis is an absolute must-read for both children and adults. With extraordinary artwork by Elena Hormiga, this captivating story is one to relish. A book that is surely destined to become a classic.’ —Outside In World.
#Toletis is available to order now!
🌳Use code JAN2023 to get 30% off! 🌳
🔗http://ow.ly/YOzs50Mzbl0
#childrensbooks #illustrated #picturebooks #climatechange #trees #deforestation #spain #translatedlit #rafaruiz
… See MoreSee Less
Share
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linked In
Share by Email
View Comments
Likes:
0
Shares:
0
Comments:
0
Comment on Facebook
‘A nuanced and insightful study of the ‘modest fashion movement’ in the Muslim world and beyond.’ Publishers Weekly
Modesty: A Fashion Paradox by Hafsa Lodi is out now!
✨Use code JAN2023 to get 30% off with FREE SHIPPING on ALL orders. ✨
🔗 ow.ly/vABm50Mz4BC
#modestfashion #hafsalodi #nonfiction #model #hijab #mariahidrissi #bookstagram #bookish #fashion #pink
… See MoreSee Less
Share
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linked In
Share by Email
View Comments
Likes:
0
Shares:
0
Comments:
0
Comment on Facebook