Interlink Publishing, the Northampton, Mass.–based press known for its focus on the Middle East, has announced the launch of the Interlink Foundation, a nonprofit that will extend its effort to promote "public discourse on issues of global significance" by "amplifying banned, suppressed, and censored voices" through mentorship, events, and funding for translated literature, per an announcement from the Moushabeck family, who owns the press.
"Literature is a gateway to a people’s soul," said Michel Moushabeck, cofounder of Interlink Publishing and board director of the Interlink Foundation. “Our foundation is dedicated to preserving these voices, building a more inclusive literary landscape, and challenging the status quo.”
Interlink is the only Palestinian American–owned indie publisher in the U.S., which Moushabeck said has been the source of some recent alienation in the literary community. "Publishing has become increasingly challenging—from the monopolization of corporate publishing to the pay-to-play marketing and publicity model," Moushabeck wrote in a letter to Interlink customers.
In a conversation with PW, he added that Interlink, which publishes Palestinian authors as well as other voices from across the Global South, has seen "relentless" backlash since October 7. "A lot of our authors' events have been canceled at the last minute. We've never really had this kind of pushback before during our 40 years, even though we have received a lot of hate mail," he said. In light of this, Moushabeck added that the foundation is needed "more than ever before," both in terms of rallying support for Interlink and continuing to publish Palestinian authors.
The foundation, which was officially registered in October of last year, was already awarded a $100,000 grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts in April 2025, and has already sponsored several initiatives, including Queer Kidlit Camp, a retreat for queer children's book workers in Vermont, and Interlink's Read & Resist Fest. The latter, which was held in September of this year, was the second annual iteration of the social justice festival hosted by Interlink, and convened more than 1,000 attendees for a book sale, children’s activities, workshops, music, and food in Interlink's hometown of Northampton.
In an announcement, the Moushabeck family added that they plan to launch an Interlink Foundation imprint this month with the inaugural title Palestine Mapped: From the River to the Sea in Early Geographic Thought by historical researcher Thomas Suárez.
Since inking a distribution deal with Simon & Schuster in 2020, Interlink has seen its reach grow significantly. In 2024, Michel and Ruth Moushabeck passed ownership to their three daughters and son-in-law.
Moushabeck cofounded Interlink Publishing with his wife Ruth in 1987 after graduating from New York University. As a young academic, Moushabeck was "really horrified to learn how little people knew about where I came from," and said he pivoted to publishing to help rectify what he saw as a the dearth of Palestinian narratives in U.S. discourse. Interlink sustained itself in the subsequent decades by balancing what Moushabeck called its "money-making books" with mission-driven titles, and is now, he said, turning to the foundation to secure its next chapter.
