List of Arab American writers
Encyclopedia
This article is a list of Arab American writers.
- Susan AbulhawaSusan AbulhawaSusan Abulhawa is an American-based author of Palestinian descent. She is the author of the 2010 novel, Mornings in Jenin.-Background:Abulhawa is the daughter of Palestinian refugees of the 1967 War. She grew up in Kuwait, Jordan, occupied East Jerusalem, and the United States...
, fiction and nonfiction writer, author of "Mornings in JeninMornings in JeninMornings in Jenin, is a novel by author Susan Abulhawa.-Background:...
" (Bloomsbury 2010) - Edward Abboud, political writer, author of Invisible Enemy: Israel, Politics, Media, and American Culture
- Elmaz Abinader, author, playwright and activist; PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary AwardPEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary AwardAccording to its website, PEN Oakland was founded in 1989 by Ishmael Reed, who came up with the idea, and co-founders Floyd Salas, Reginald Lockett and Claire Ortalda, in order to “promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the...
recipient - Diana Abu-JaberDiana Abu-JaberDiana Abu-Jaber is Jordanian American author and a professor at Portland State University. She was born in Syracuse, New York. Her father was Jordanian and her mother was American, descended from Irish and German roots. At the age of seven she moved with her family for two years to Jordan...
- Elia Abu MadiElia Abu MadiElia Abu Madi was a Lebanese-American poet.-Life and career:Abu Madi was born in the village of Al-Muhaydithah, now part of Bikfaya, Lebanon, in 1889 or 1890...
- Etel AdnanEtel AdnanEtel Adnan is a Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist.In 2003 MELUS, the journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, called Adnan "arguably the most celebrated and accomplished Arab American author writing today."She has said, "As for any...
- Saladin AhmedSaladin AhmedSaladin Ahmed is an Arab-American science fiction and fantasy writer and poet. He has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. His fiction has been published in book anthologies and magazines such as Strange Horizons, Orson Scott Card's...
, science fiction and fantasy author, poet. - Munir Akash, author and translator; founding editor of Jusoor and Targa Europa (Decoration of Europe) recipient
- Naseeb Arida, publisher associated with the New York Pen League
- Joseph AwadJoseph AwadJoseph Frederick Awad was a poet, painter, public relations and executive. He was appointed national president of the Public Relations Society of America in 1982 and Poet Laureate of Virginia in 1998. Awad was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in 1992...
- Mohammad Badeges, author of Tentacles and Rainbows
- Wadi Bahout, poet and member of the New York Pen League
- Ibtisam BarakatIbtisam BarakatIbtisam Barakat is a Palestinian-American writer, poet, and educator. She was born in Beit Hanina, near Jerusalem.Barakat received her Bachelor's degree from Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah in the West Bank. In 1986, she moved to New York City, where she interned with The Nation magazine...
- Moustafa BayoumiMoustafa BayoumiMoustafa Bayoumi is an award-winning writer, and associate professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. Born in Zürich, Switzerland, and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, he currently lives in Brooklyn....
- William Peter BlattyWilliam Peter BlattyWilliam Peter Blatty is an American writer and filmmaker. The novel The Exorcist, written in 1971, is his magnum opus; he also penned the subsequent screenplay version of the film, for which he won an Academy Award....
- William Catzeflis, poet and member of the New York Pen League
- Sharif Elmusa, poet and editor
- Catherine FillouxCatherine FillouxCatherine Filloux is a French-Algerian-American playwright. She has received awards from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the O'Neill, the Rockefeller MAP Fund, and the Asian Cultural Council. In 2003 she was a Fullbright Senior Specialist in playwriting in Cambodia.Filloux's plays...
- Joseph Geha, author of Through and ThroughThrough and throughThrough and through describes a situation where an object, real or imaginary, passes completely through another object, also real or imaginary...
- Khalil GibranKhalil GibranKhalil Gibran Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān,Jibrān Khalīl Jibrān, or Jibrān Xalīl Jibrān; Arabic , January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) also known as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer...
- Abdal-Masih Haddad, publisher associated with the New York Pen League
- Nudra Haddad, poet and member of the New York Pen League
- Laila Halaby
- Suheir HammadSuheir HammadSuheir Hammad is a Palestinian-American poet, author and political activist. She was born in Amman, Jordan. Her parents were Palestinian refugees who immigrated along with their daughter to Brooklyn, New York City when she was five years old...
- Sam Hamod
- Ray HananiaRay HananiaRay Hanania is an Arab-American Palestinian Christian journalist also known for his stand-up comedy. Hanania writes a syndicated column with a particular focus on the Middle East, and after the September 11 attacks, created Comedians of Middle East conflict, a comedy act with the hope of defusing...
- Natalie Handal, poet, editor and PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary AwardPEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary AwardAccording to its website, PEN Oakland was founded in 1989 by Ishmael Reed, who came up with the idea, and co-founders Floyd Salas, Reginald Lockett and Claire Ortalda, in order to “promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the...
recipient - Randa JarrarRanda JarrarRanda Jarrar is an American novelist, short story writer, and translator.-Life:She grew up in Kuwait and Egypt, and moved to New York at the age of 13. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, and studied creative writing, then went on to receive a MA in Middle Eastern Studies from UT Austin and a MFA...
- Samuel John HazoSamuel John HazoDr. Samuel John Hazo is an author of books, including poetry, fiction, essays and plays, and the founder and director of the International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also McAnulty Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at Duquesne University, where he taught for...
- Lawrence JosephLawrence JosephLawrence Joseph is an American poet, writer, essayist, critic, lawyer, and professor of law.-Life:Joseph's grandparents, Lebanese Maronite and Syrian Melkite Eastern Catholics, were among the first Arab Americans to emigrate to Detroit, where both Joseph's parents were born...
- Mohja KahfMohja Kahf-Biography:Kahf moved to the United States in 1971. Her family has been involved in Syrian opposition politics, a theme reflected in the life of her character Khadra of The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf.She received her Ph.D...
- Ismail Khalidi (writer)Ismail Khalidi (writer)Ismail Khalidi is a Palestinian American playwright, poet, and actor, best known for the plays Tennis in Nablus and Truth Serum Blues...
- Rashid KhalidiRashid KhalidiRashid Ismail Khalidi , born 1948, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East, is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.-Family, education and...
- Daoud KuttabDaoud kuttabDaoud Kuttab is a Palestinian journalist. He is considered to be a moderate voice among the Palestinians. He is the director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University and founder/general director of "AmmanNet", the Arab world's first internet radio station...
- Lisa Suhair MajajLisa Suhair MajajLisa Suhair Majaj is a Palestinian-American poet and scholar. Born in Hawarden, Iowa, Majaj was raised in Jordan. She earned a B.A. in English literature from American University of Beirut and a M.A., A.B.D. in English literature and American culture from the University of Michigan. Her poetry...
- Saree MakdisiSaree MakdisiSaree Makdisi is an American literary critic of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, specializing in eighteenth and nineteenth century British literature. He also writes on contemporary Arab politics and culture. Makdisi currently holds the title of Professor of English and Comparative Literature at...
- Jack MarshallJack Marshall (author)Jack Marshall is an award-winning American poet and author born to an Iraqi father and a Syrian mother of Jewish heritage.-Upbringing:...
- Hisham MatarHisham MatarHisham Matar is a Libyan author. His debut novel In the Country of Men was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize. Matar’s essays have appeared in the Asharq Alawsat, The Independent, The Guardian, The Times and The New York Times. His second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, was published on...
- Khaled MattawaKhaled MattawaKhaled Mattawa is a Libyan poet, and a renowned Arab-American writer, he is also a leading literary translator, focusing on translating Arabic poetry into English...
- D.H. Melhem, literary scholar and activist, American Book AwardAmerican Book AwardThe American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
recipient - Claire MessudClaire MessudClaire Messud is an American novelist. She is best known as the author of the 2006 novel The Emperor's Children.-Early life:...
- Mikha'il Na'imaMikha'il Na'imaMikha'il Na'ima was a Lebanese author and poet of the New York Pen League.-Biography:...
(Mikhail Naimy) - Naomi Shihab NyeNaomi Shihab NyeNaomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter, and novelist. She was born to a Palestinian father and American mother. Although she regards herself as a "wandering poet", she refers to San Antonio as her home.-Career:...
- Gregory Orfalea, poet, essayist and historian
- Amin al-RihaniAmin al-RihaniAmeen Rihani, also spelled Amin al-Rihani , was a Lebanese Arab-American writer, intellectual and political activist. He was also a major figure in the mahjar literary movement developed by Arab emigrants in North America, and an early theorist of Arab nationalism...
(Ameen Rihani) - Abraham Mitrie RihbanyAbraham Mitrie RihbanyAbraham Mitrie Rihbany was an Eastern Mediterranean Arab immigrant to America who wrote on matters of religion and politics...
- Salom RizkSalom RizkSalom Rizk is a Syrian-American author, best known for his 1943 immigrant autobiography, Syrian Yankee, perhaps the best-known piece of Arab American literature in the middle part of the century...
- Mahmoud SaeedMahmoud SaeedMahmoud Saeed is an Iraqi-born American award-winning novelist.Born in Mosul, Saeed has written more than twenty novels and short story collections, and hundreds of articles. He started writing short stories at an early age. He wrote an award-winning short story in the Newspaper “Fatal Iraq,...
, very well known novelist - Ramzi M. Salti, author of The Native Informant: Six Tales of Defiance from the Arab World
- Anthony ShadidAnthony ShadidAnthony Shadid is a foreign correspondent for The New York Times based in Baghdad and Beirut. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting twice, in 2004 and 2010.-Career:...
- Evelyn Shakir, literary scholar
- Mona Simpson
See also
- Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States
- Before Columbus FoundationBefore Columbus FoundationThe Before Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, Victor Hernández Cruz, Shawn Wong and Rudolfo Anaya to be "a multi-ethnic organizing dedicated to promoting a pan-cultural view of America," especially through the promotion of multicultural writers.One of...
- Kawkab AmericaKawkab AmericaKawkab America was an Arabic-language weekly newspaper published in New York City, United States. Kawkab America was the first Arabic-language newspaper in North America; it was published by Arab Orthodox Christians, and its readership was almost exclusively Christian. Typeset by hand, Kawkab...
- Arab American Book AwardArab American Book AwardThe Arab American Book Award was established in 2006 to celebrate and support the research of, and the written work of, Arab Americans and their culture. The Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excellence of books that preserve and advance the understanding, knowledge, and...