Crossing: A love story between Italy and Palestine by Sabrin Hasbun will be published by Footnote Press on 8 May 2025. It is the winner of the inaugural Footnote X Counterpoints Writing Prize.

‘Vivid, compassionate, captivating, Sabrin’s writing is both deeply rooted in place and culture, and transcending borders in its universality and humanity.’
– Elif Shafak

A beautiful and compelling family memoir, Crossing retraces the love story between Sabrin Hasbun’s Palestinian father and Italian mother, and the life of her half-Italian, half-Palestinian family from the 1960s to 2020. After the loss of her mother, Sabrin tries to renegotiate her mixed identity and understand her mother’s choices which led her from an oppressive childhood in a village in Tuscany to finding love and community activism in Palestine.

This is a story about overcoming grief and what it means to lose not only loved ones, but also a place in the world and a sense of belonging.
‘Sabrin’s writing is captivating, drawing us warmly into a world that is both different and familiar, that we want to know about. A special and original voice, one for our times.’
– Philippe Sands

‘A moving and tender story about love and identity, and a meditation on the people who make us who we are.’
– Dina Nayeri

About the author:
Sabrin Hasbun was born in Palestine, spent her childhood in Palestine and Italy, and now lives in the UK. She holds a PHD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and lectures in Creative Writing at Cardiff Met University.

For further info please contact Hope Ndaba on hope.ndaba@bonnierbooks.co.uk

About the Footnotes X Counterpoints Writing Prize

Footnote Press managing director Vidisha Biswas and Counterpoints Arts director Almir Koldzic, who co-founded the Footnote X Counterpoints Writing Prize, said: “We are proud and delighted to have brought our inaugural writing prize to fruition. It has allowed us to discover an enormous diversity of voices and experiences, which can teach us a great deal as we navigate our way through these divisive times.

“We hope that Sabrin’s wonderful book will move and touch many hearts, and help us start dismantling so many real and imaginary borders that keep us fearful and separated at the moment. We also hope that her story will pave the way for more writers to share with us other hopeful, beautiful and inclusive ways of living together.”