'If I must die': An anthology of a stubborn, brilliant life in Gaza

It was the winter of 2008 when Israel launched a punishing new offensive on Gaza.

As the bombs rained down and the sonic bombs sent shivers across the strip, the young writer Refaat Alareer, a lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza, found himself preparing - optimistically - for class the following semester.

Between the the screams, the smell of burning flesh and the wails of ambulance sirens - he focused on trying re-read the 17th Century English novel Robinson Crusoe, the classic tale about an Englishman who finds himself marooned on an island in the Pacific.

But this time, the novel hit a little differently.

Alareer observed how Crusoe, the key protagonist in the novel, would wield control over the story of Friday, his Black and indigenous "companion" on the island.

Read more: 'If I must die': An anthology of a stubborn, brilliant life in Gaza