Palestinian American Writers Speak
On Rememberance: When Words Become Our Strength
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Auditorium
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For many Palestinian American poets, memoirists, and novelists, writing is a turbulent process, one met with obstacles, including censorship and a publishing industry that often seems closed to their voices. Six award-winning Palestinian American writers will discuss their experiences: What motivates them? What makes them hesitate? What issues do they confront when writing for a largely non-Palestinian audience? How do they articulate their identity in times of devastation? What role does literature play when Palestinian voices are being silenced and threatened with erasure? They will also discuss how words are forms of remembrance and support through unrest and sorrow, as well as the power of community. SUSAN MUADDI DARRAJ is the award-winning author of children and adult books, whose recent work, Behind You is the Sea, was named a most-anticipated book of 2024 by Apple Books, The New Yorker, Ms Magazine, and more. She won the highest prize awarded by the Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artists Award for literature. Renowned poet Naomi Shihab Nye expressed gratitude for Susan’s “very necessary, beautiful work.” NAJLA SAID is an actor, playwright, and the author of Looking For Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family. The much-praised memoir about her childhood in New York is based on her solo Off-Broadway show “Palestine” which sold out for 9 weeks. ZEINA AZZAM is a writer, editor, and poet laureate of Alexandria, Virginia, whose most recent collection is Some Things Never Leave You. Zeina is a mentor for We Are Not Numbers, a writing program for youth in Gaza, and volunteers for Grassroots Alexandria, advocating for the civil rights of vulnerable communities. ETAF RUM’s debut novel, A Woman Is No Man, garnered attention as a Today Show Read. With her latest novel, Evil Eye, recognized as an NPR Best Book of the Year, Etaf Rum “solidifies her position as a leading voice in literary fiction that transcends continents and histories.” “solidifies her position as a leading voice in literary fiction that transcends continents and histories.” GEORGE ABRAHAM (they/he) is a poet, performance artist, and writer. Their debut poetry collection Birthright won the Arab American Book Award. They are the executive editor of Mizna, and co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry. LAILA EL-HADDAD is an author, social activist, policy analyst, and journalist. She co-authored The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey and is a leading voice on Gaza as seen in her work which is centered on food, politics, and her life as a Palestinian mother and journalist.
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SUSAN MUADDI DARRAJ is an award-winning writer of books for adults and children. She won an American Book Award, two Arab American Book Awards, and a Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artists Award. In 2018, she was named a USA Artists Ford Fellow. Her books include her linked short story collection, A Curious Land, as well as the Farah Rocks children’s book series. She lives in Baltimore, where she teaches creative writing at Harford Community College and the Johns Hopkins University. Her new novel, BEHIND YOU IS THE SEA, was published in January 2024 by HarperVia. It has been named a most anticipated book of 2024 by Apple Books, The New Yorker, Ms Magazine, and more.
www.susanmdbooks.com
Twitter: @susandarraj
Instagram: @susandarraj
NAJLA SAID is an actor, playwright, and the author of Looking For Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family (Riverhead, 2013). In 2010, she performed her solo show “Palestine” Off-Broadway for 9 sold-out weeks and was named one of “Forty Feminists Under Forty” by The Feminist Press. Over the past 25 years, she has appeared in numerous theatre productions in New York and all over the world, as well as in film and television.
najlasaid.com
Instagram:@kittybubble
ZEINA AZZAM is a Palestinian American poet, writer, and editor and the poet laureate of Alexandria, Virginia, for 2022-25. Her full-length poetry collection, Some Things Never Leave You, was released by Tiger Bark Press (2023), and her chapbook, Bayna Bayna: In-Between, by The Poetry Box (2021). She holds an M.A. in Arabic literature from Georgetown University and has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. Zeina’s poems appear in webzines, journals, and anthologies including Pleiades, Plume, Vox Populi, One Art, Mizna, Sukoon, Passager, Gyroscope, Split This Rock, Streetlight Magazine, Cutleaf Journal, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Bettering American Poetry, and Making Mirrors: Writing/Righting by and for Refugees. Her poem, You Birth the Seeds, was set as a choral piece by renowned composer Melissa Dunphy. Zeina is a mentor for We Are Not Numbers, a writing program for youth in Gaza, and volunteers for Grassroots Alexandria, advocating for the civil rights of vulnerable communities.
www.zeinaazzam.com
Twitter: @zeina3azzam
Instagram: @zeina.azzam1
ETAF RUM is a Palestinian-American New York Times Bestselling author. Her debut novel, A Woman Is No Man, garnered attention as a Today Show Read with Jenna Pick, marking the beginning of her literary acclaim. With her latest novel, Evil Eye, recognized as an NPR Best Book of the Year, Etaf Rum “solidifies her position as a leading voice in literary fiction that transcends continents and histories.”
www.etafrum.com
Instagram: @etafrum
GEORGE ABRAHAM (they/he) is a Palestinian American poet. Their debut poetry collection Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020) won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are the executive editor of Mizna, and co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket Books, 2025). They are currently a Litowitz MFA+MA candidate at Northwestern University and will be joining Amherst College’s English faculty as a Writer-in-Residence this fall.
gabrahampoet.com
Twitter: @IntifadaBatata
Instagram: @IntifadaBatata
LAILA EL-HADDAD is a Palestinian writer, media consultant, and leading voice on Gaza. She is the co-author of The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey and a contributor to major news outlets and newspapers. She covered major events such as the Israeli Disengagement of 2005 and the Palestinian elections of 2006 during her time as a reporter for Aljazeera English in Gaza. Her groundbreaking appearance on CNN’s Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain in 2013 showcased Gaza in a humane light. A graduate of Duke University and the Harvard Kennedy School with a focus on political science, public policy, and history, El-Haddad makes her home in Clarksville, MD with her husband and their four children.
www.LailaHaddad.com
Twitter: @gazamom
Instagram: @gazamom
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CityLit Project and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in partnership with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company present CityLit Festival: Dismantling the Culture of Silence. This celebration of the arts showcases a bevy of leading poets and writers on April 20, 2024. We’re talking fiction, nonfiction, poetry galore, and ways to up the ante on your craft.
Download the CityLit Festival: Dismantling the Culture of Silence flyer.