On 22 April, at Unity Books Te Whanganui-a-Tara i spoke with Shana Chandra about her accomplished and beautiful novel Banjara (Moa Press | Hachette, 2026)

i'm so grateful to Unity Books for hosting these lunchtime author talks. This event took place the day after some devestating weather and under burgeoning blue skies. It was such a great crowd and people were so excited to hear Shana and read Banjara.

Banjara is an astonishingly good book which can be enjoyed on so many levels. It's a really compelling story that also offers insight into events that i think some readers may not have read about before. Shana's prose is compelling and evocatively summons both physical and emotional landscapes. It's a book that holds both darkness and light to tell an affecting story that has stayed with me.

Te Whanganui-a-Tara

At the beginning of this conversation i mention a person who was missing after the storms. Sadly, the day after this event it was discovered the person had died. i just want to acknowledge the family and friends of this person and offer love in this difficult time.

Action: Al-Rifaq

Shana suggested we highlight the work of Al-Rifaq an Aotearoa New Zealand-based affinity group that has formed in the context of the US-Israeli onslaught against the people of Gaza, Lebanon, and the wider Middle East. Members of Al-Rifaq are Arabic and non-Arabic speakers from the Middle East and elsewhere, whose common ground is unequivocal support for Palestinian and Third World liberation.

Al-Rifaq say about their work:

The purpose of this collective is to make Arabic political commentary, analysis, and theory accessible to Western and English-speaking readership. Our work with Arabic texts focuses on contemporary or recent analysis produced by the radical left and revolutionary currents of Palestine and the Arab world.

This focus is based on our belief that the ongoing and unfolding war on the region is of world historical significance, and that the time is ripe for a renewed internationalist ethos and orientation in political organising, as evidenced by the worldwide Palestine solidarity movement.

There is a gap between the political discourses of the radical left in the Arab and Western worlds. Our work here aims to bridge this gap and challenge the solidarity movements of the West, which must, we believe, come to understand Al-Qadhiyyah Al-Falastiniyah (القضية الفلسطينية)—the Palestinian question—on terms that are consistent with that of the Palestinian and Arab masses and their historic mission of liberation.

It is our privilege therefore to share the words of writers, scholars, journalists and organic intellectuals who continue, undeterred and with extraordinary rigour, to illuminate these dark times with an abundance of theoretical, historical, and strategic insight and clarity.

A note on process: All our translations have been approved by the original publisher and, where possible, by the authors.

We are proudly a human-made platform. Thanks to your support, we can use funds gained through subscriptions to commission translators on the ground in the region.

You can support Better off Read financially at Buy Better off Read a Coffee

Music in Better off Read was made by Brent McIntyre.

Ep 159: Shana Chandra and pip adam talk about Banjara at Unity Books Te Whanganui-a-Tara

Better off Read

Ep 159: Shana Chandra and pip adam talk about Banjara at Unity Books Te Whanganui-a-Tara