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Official feed of the Radius of Arab American Writers.
Joined July 2010
RAWIFest 2025 presenter applications are now open! The festival will be held in Houston, October 10-12. Get your applications in by Jan 31st, 11:59 PM PST.
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🧵On February 6th, we, the Radius of Arab American Writers, emailed panel moderators – our colleagues and fellow writers – at the upcoming Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference via publicly available email addresses.
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Please read our statement on the powerful action that took place the #AWP24 book fair on Friday, as well as @awpwriter's continued lack of communication and transparency.
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We, the Radius of Arab American Writers, stand firmly in solidarity with Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, Gaza, and all of historic Palestine resisting settler-colonial violence. See our statement below, including links to information & resources: .
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The Board of the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI) grieves the passing of an extraordinary human and literary titan: Etel Adnan. Adnan’s contributions to RAWI in particular and to the storytelling world broadly cannot be overstated.
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We have reached out to the Association multiple times for clarification on what (and whose) harassment and hostility they are referencing, and we have received no response. AWP’s message draws an insidious line between an invitation to global solidarity with oppressed.
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This #NationalPoetryMonth, we've invited @rashaabdulhadi to contribute weekly writing prompts toward "resistance & refusal, toward honesty & action". See the full prompt for Week 1, along with the rest of the month here:
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intimidate, and oppress marginalized writers. We urge AWP to clarify its statement and declare solidarity with all marginalized communities’ ability to practice free speech. For us, this speech is not merely abstract, but is tied to real and immediate survival.
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communities and harassment or disruption. This potentially, and dangerously, equates the discomfort of witnessing free speech with abuse or violence. We hope that the Association did not intend to follow a call for solidarity with a statement about harassment in order to silence,.
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We are excited to announce that registration for RAWIFest is officially live! Huge thanks to our community who made this possible ❤️. All events will happen virtually with live captioning from June 10th - 13th. Registration is free and open to the public:
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We sent these members of our shared literary community an invitation to begin their programming at this year’s conference by acknowledging the genocide in Palestine. We provided some sample language acknowledging that genocide and expressing solidarity with Indigenous peoples,.
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those suffering genocide in Sudan and Congo, Black communities, and LGBTQI+ people. The practice of prefacing literary events with similar acknowledgments is routine not only at AWP but also at literary events across the world. In response to our message, AWP sent an email.
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ANNOUNCEMENT TIME! Applications for performers, panelists & workshop leaders for our RAWIFest 2021 gathering are officially live!! . This is set to happen virtually June 10-13 2021, with generous funding from @bostonfdn! Applications are due 2/5! .
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Hi y'all! @IntifadaBatata here with a quick announcement - I'm gonna be helping take over the RAWI twitter feed! There are so many exciting things going on with Arab lit, and I'm extremely honored & excited about this!.
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to all panel moderators. After re-clarifying that they had no association to our email, AWP made statements about their commitment to addressing harassment, fear, ridicule, and intimidation, including by removing participants from the conference.
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RAWI is really excited to announce that we'll be doing a virtual spring release show, to honoring some March-April releases in our community and fundraise for a SWANA relief fund!. RSVP Zoom info is here at the facebook event page:
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✨️ Our mentorship application is OPEN! ✨️ Early-career SWANA writers have the opportunity to apply to work with one of our four mentors, @Anasemia, @LailaLalami, @SusanDarraj, or @nathaliephandal!
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Along with @Mizna_ArabArt, we are excited to announce Mizna+RAWIFest, RAWI's bi-annual conference, will be a fully hybrid event held in October in Minneapolis! More details on festival logistics and a call for proposals coming soon. 💫
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On March 26th, join us for an incredible gathering of Syrian poets writing today and elsewhere across the diaspora! This event is FREE (with encouraged donation) - register here:
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The Etel Adnan Poetry Prize deadline is April 15th. Submit your poetry manuscripts, or tell a friend to submit theirs.
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This April, we've invited SWANA artists to provide prompts for each day of #NationalPoetryMonth & #arabamericanheritagemonth ✨ Day 1's prompt is from @joodthu - we hope you share your poem with us! 💜
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Happy book release day to RAWI beloved Khaled Mattawa - Fugitive Atlas is an incredible project. Here's an excerpt, from ANTHROPOCENE HYMNS
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Today marks 72 years of Palestinian resistance to ethnic cleansing & occupation - many members of our community are mourning & uplifting Palestinians who resist, despite. Here's a folio of Palestinians from our community & Palestinian orgs you can support.
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For this #NationalPoetryMonth, we've asked 30 SWANA writers to offer prompts to aid in the 30for30 challenge. On Day 1, we're honored to offer this from @laypay 💖
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CALL FOR ART DONATIONS! The Yemeni Liberation Movement @LiberateYemen is requesting art donations for auction to raise money for medical expenses and other costs to sustain the hunger strike against US-support for Saudi's blockade. Read more here:
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APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN for Arab American Summer School! Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting classes. FREE. Apply by June 12!
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Happy release day to the legendary @PhilipMetres for his book Shrapnel Maps - it is truly an extraordinary collection, in terms of scope, form, and historical memory in general. Order your copy today & support a local independent bookstore:
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MIZNA+RAWIFest is accepting proposals for our 2023 festival! We're excited to put together an eclectic group of literary, visual, and performance artists/educators/scholars✨Apply as an individual or with a group by May 22:
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RAWI stands firmly in solidarity with the nationwide protests against police brutality, & in support of Black lives, now & always. Read our statement of solidarity below, along with places to donate/support, & info resources on a police-free future:.
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With a heavy heart, we are announcing that our brilliant leader @randajarrar will be stepping down as RAWI's director. See her statement below - more updates are forthcoming. We love you so much Randa & are so so grateful ❤
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RAWI is proud to partner with @palyouthmvmt for their Futures of Resistance panel, built around the yearly Ghassan Kanafani Anthology! @rashaabdulhadi, @DELTAHEAD_, and Khalid Abu Dawas will be panelists, moderated by @summabis. Register:
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✨️ We're holding a virtual agents roundtable! ✨️ Are you curious about the life of literary agents? Are you hoping to learn how to approach an agent yourself? Come listen to these wonderful folks with brilliant SWANA writers on their lists. Register:
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Congratulations @rabihalameddine for winning this years #arabamerican #book award in fiction!.@ArabAmericanMus #RAWI.
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FAST FOR GAZA ‼️. Continuing every Thursday until a permanent ceasefire is called - Learn more and join the fast at
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Catch RAWI at AWP! We'll be tabling alongside our friends at @Mizna_ArabArt, celebrating our 30th anniversary, and facilitating the caucus. Will we see you there? ✨💖📚
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Submissions to the Etel Adnan prize for first & second books are still open for another month and a half! Winners get to work with Hayan Charara & Fady Joudah towards publication with @uarkpress, as well as $1000! Send us your best!!.
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Have you seen our full slate of readers for Sunday's event? @Elias_Jahshan @MalakaGharib @mayaslmh & #KamelyaOmaymaYoussef - register, you don't want to miss out!.
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Getting ready for #NationalPoetryMonth? Check out the prompts we collected from SWANA writers last year on our Resources tab ✨️ and stay tuned for 30 more this year 👀
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Thank you everyone for attending RAWIFEST! We appreciate your attention, love, and community. Recordings from the events will be posted in the coming weeks. So excited to continue to build with you 🥰🥳.
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✨️ Submission opportunity alert! @IntifadaBatata & @MyNrhindi are editing an anthology of Palestinian anglophone poetry for @haymarketbooks ✨️ 🇵🇸
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Submissions are open for the @fiyahlitmag Palestine Solidarity issue, edited by @Nadia_Shammas_ and @summabis!.
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A warm welcome to our new board members, @hi_feras, @prwath, @ZeynJoukhadar, and @ryaha! We're so excited 🎉❤.
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WELL THIS IS CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION!!! Join us in celebrating @PhilipMetres who has been named a Guggenheim Fellow today!! We are so excited for you, Phil - this is so so well deserved!!!. See Phil's full @GuggFellows profile below!.
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Submissions for the Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship from @palyouthmvmt are open! The theme for the anthology this year is "Futures of Resistance"; Palestinian youth in the US and Canada age 18-25 are invited to apply.
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We are so so excited for 2020 and new books @LailaLalami, @SaharMustafah, @ZainaArafat, and @sjabulhawa! What a year it promises to be for SWANA Lit!!!!! 😻🎊.
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Thanks to @SusanDarraj for compiling this list of Arab children's literature!! Our community's children deserve to see themselves in lit ❤❤ Check out these incredible books, feat so many RAWI authors!!.
This is how Arab American authors reflect the diversity of Arab America in their work and close the gap in kidlit representation, @SusanDarraj wrote for the blog, featuring authors @jasminewarga @ayawrites @MalakaGharib.
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Some amazing news - the beloved & ever-loving Naomi Shihab Nye will be joining us for our reading, this Saturday at 6 PM EST! We will be tweeting everyone's work throughout the week as Sat draws closer!. RSVP at the facebook page(ZOOM details forthcoming):
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Happy release day to 2 authors in our community - @laypay for DELUGE & @tariqLuthun for How the Water Holds Me! . Grab Leila's book from @CopperCanyonPrs here: & Tariq's from @BullCityPress here:
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RAWIFest isn't just our live festival June 10-13—we've got content lined up to debut each day until then! Check out our first two pieces on our site now:
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Excited to announce that Danielle Badra is the winner of the 2021 Etel Adnan Prize!!.
Danielle Badra Named Winner of the 2021 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize | University of Arkansas
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RAWIFEST Registration is still open! Don't miss out on seeing our incredible featured reader @zainaalsous at our closing ceremony, June 13th at 7:30 PM EST.
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GET READY TO SCREAM!! RAWI beloved & Etel Adnan Prize winner @diasporadical_z just won the Norma Farber First Book Award from the @Poetry_Society!!!!!! . A Theory of Birds is groundbreaking & is doing so much to push modern Palestinian diasporic poetics forward. SO WELL DESERVED!.
Congratulations to Zaina Alsous, winner of the Norma Farber Book Award for her collection A Theory of Birds (University of Arkansas Press, 2019) selected by Matthew Shenoda:
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For day 3/31 of #TheSealeyChallenge, RAWI recommends RIFQA by @m7mdkurd, forthcoming from @haymarketbooks this fall! . This is a book so many in the community have been waiting for and we're so excited to have gotten a preview at this brilliance!
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We are THRILLED to announce our first RAWIFest featured collab with @kundimanforever - a panel on poetry debuts moderated by @IntifadaBatata feat @Adeebaloo, @ninejoseph, @JulianThePoet, @YesAurielle, Danielle Badra, & @ThreaWrites!!. Register here:
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Philip Metres with a fantastic essay on otherness, erasure, and Arabness in American
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Thank you for following along with our National Poetry Month Programming! We'll have a downloadable, collected version of all of the prompts so you can easily access them soon 🌻.
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The @SealeyChallenge begins today! Each Monday, we'll recommend some reads by SWANA writers.✨To ease into the month, here are some shorter works - what are your favorite chapbooks? 📚☕️
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My first and foremost goals are:.1) to promote Arab writing & art to a larger audience.2) to connect Arab & BIPOC diasporic writers to opportunities .3) to build community thereafter ❤. If you have an opportunity/piece you'd like me to help promote to our community, DM me!.
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Spread the word! RAWI Conference is in full effect in JUNE. Check out the CFP. @monaawadauthor @monaeltahawy @JessRiz @IntifadaBatata @LKTuffaha @ArabAmericanMus @Arab_America @Mizna_ArabArt @AAIHS @acraftyarab @ProfKahf.
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For day 8/31 of #TheSealeyChallenge, RAWI recommends BINT by beloved RAWIFest participant Ghinwa Jawhari! This debut chapbook is not to be missed!
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It's Day 12 of #NationalPoetryMonth! For your 30for30 challenge, here's a prompt from @DanielGHajjar 🎶
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The Etel Adnan Prize submission closes April 15! Join an incredible slate of Arab American poets:
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On Friday, June 11th at 10:30AM EST, join us, @Mizna_ArabArt, and @aaww at RAWIFEST to celebrate and honor the life of Sarah Hegazi.
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So many great Arab writers in The Scores, the latest issue of which focuses on writers of Arab heritage.
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For Day 5 of #TheSealeyChallenge, RAWI recommends Directed by Desire by the legendary June Jordan ❤❤. There are many AMAZING collected vols out there! This one's great if you want a comprehensive collection of her poetry (includes entire collections like Living Room & Passion!)
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RAWIFest videos will be posted soon! In the mean time, check out the asynchronous content available now.
If you're missing RAWIFest, while you wait for our festival videos to be posted catch up on the asynchronous content! We've got readings from @EQuotah, @prwath, @mawinretrograde, @Aiyaness, @atayqueen, and @Mizna_ArabArt!
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BILADI, BILADI is now accepting comic, illustration, poetry, prose, and design submissions that focus on the academic and cultural boycott of Israel. All proceeds from the zine's sales will go to Palestinian grassroots organizations! Deadline June 30.
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Our prompts from SWANA artists continue this #NationalPoetryMonth & #ArabAmericanHeritageMonth 💜For Day 5 of #30for30, we have a multi-step prompt from @WritingRana! ✨🌙
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"They tell me family has checkpoints vicious/as any country, and not everyone makes it/across, or if they do, they lose their names/in a calligraphy ablaze.". This poem from @OmarjSakr's The Lost Arabs knocked the air from my chest. (Poem content warning: addiction, abuse)
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Folks are not gonna want to miss @PhilipMetres, @VChangPoet & Ed Skoog's virtual release party with @CopperCanyonPrs tomorrow!!! 3 PM PDT! . Event info here:
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Instead of our daily prompts, we have some weekly exercises coming soon, from the wonderful @rashaabdulhadi.
@gayatrisethi This is kind of you. I've written some writing/action prompts with @RAWInews, so follow them if you want to catch those. May this be a global month of honesty & resistance, in words & deeds. 🙏🏼🖤🪨🌱.
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It's almost time for the Gathering of Filmmakers & Poets, featuring @abugoddess, @Hindoisms, @HalaNAlyan and Darine Hotait, moderated by @Haz_Fahmy & @ryaha! Register here:
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We also recommend reading and amplifying poets & writers in Palestine, now and always. Spend some time with these poems by @MayaAbuAlhayyat, translated by RAWI beloved @FadyJoudah & read by @LKTuffaha, Deema Shehabi, and @HalaNAlyan .
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Celebrate with our lammy-nominated community members @IntifadaBatata @ZeynJoukhadar @ZainaArafat @wolf_hour ❤❤❤❤❤!!!!.
Created over 30 years ago to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world, the #Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature. FREE! June 1, 7 pm ET.
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It's Day 2 of #NationalPoetryMonth ✨Today, we've invited @chaqlumba to provide a prompt for the #30for30 challenge. We hope you'll share your poem with us! 🌻
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Calling all #AWP2020 Arabs - @jameelahlang & @Haz_Fahmy are going to be leading the Arab-am caucus this year, alongside the help of some great folks at @Mizna_ArabArt! . If people want to volunteer to help run the caucus' outreach table, see the link below.
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WHAAS fellow @sa_miathrmoplis is collecting submissions for a virtual Arab festival - see info below! This looks SO amazing!!.
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(2/31) It's Day 2 of #TheSealeyChallenge and we're here with another RAWI recommends: The Wild Fox of Yemen by @ThreaWrites! Published by @GraywolfPress, this book was the winner of the Walt Whitman Award, selected by Harryette Mullen.
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For day 24/31 of #TheSealeyChallenge, RAWI recommends HOME: a bilingual anthology of New Arabic Poems, published with @TwoLinesPress! . We will be doing a thread featuring all 9 incredible poets from this anthology today! 🤩🤩
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Registration for Mizna+RAWIFest is live! Join us for performances and panels, all kicked-off by our keynote speaker Hala Alyan. More details and registration here:
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Adnan’s life was spent between borders, as was her vision for poetry and art, challenging us all to use the spoken and written word as a tool for deconstructing boundaries that restrict us.
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Submit your poetry manuscripts to the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. Deadline is April 15th.
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Join our friends at @TLSBooksmith TOMORROW at 6 PM EST for this amazing event with so many RAWI beloveds including @JessRiz, @HalaNAlyan and @Layla_AlAmmar!!!! . Cannot wait for this!!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩.
Join us for our upcoming virtual event April 22 at 6PM ET, with Layla AlAmmar and Hala Alyan to discuss their new books! ✨ . They will be joined in conversation with Jess Rizkallah. This event is free and open to the public. Register here:
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