This collection supports and promotes awareness to the important mission and framework of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition's focus on the lasting power of the written word and the arts in support of the free expression of ideas, the preservation of shared cultural spaces, and the importance of responding to attacks, both overt and subtle, on artists, writers, and academics working under oppressive regimes or in zones of conflict, despite the destruction of that literary/cultural content.

"Heather Matthew is a printmaker and book artist from northern NSW, Australia. She recently completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Southern Cross University, Lismore. Her artists' books have been selected for inclusion in numerous artist's book exhibitions both internationally and in Australia. Recent book exhibitions include Stellar, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, USA; Press & Release Artist Books, Phoenix Brighton, UK; Manly Artist Book Award, Manly, Australia (in collaboration with Joanne Olive) and Lessons in History Vol. II - Democracy (Graeme Galleries, Brisbane, Australia)"--Artist's statement from the Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.