Our Word hosts a reading and Q&A with Palestinian artists Zaina Arafat, Sumaya Awad, and Betty Shamieh.
Zaina Arafat is an LGBTQ Arab-American writer. Her debut novel, You Exist Too Much, won a Lambda Literary Award and was named Roxane Gay's favorite book of 2020. Her essays and articles have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, VICE, BuzzFeed, Granta, Guernica, The Believer, Harper’s Bazaar and Virginia Quarterly Review. She holds an MA in international affairs from Columbia University and an MFA from the University of Iowa. She is currently at work on an essay collection.
Sumaya Awad is a Palestinian writer and organizer based in New York City. She is currently Director of Strategy at the Adalah Justice Project and co-editor of Palestine: A Socialist Introduction.
Betty Shamieh is the author of fifteen plays. Her productions include THE BLACK EYED (New York Theatre Workshop), TERRITORIES (EU Capital of Culture Festival), FIT FOR A QUEEN (The Classical Theatre of Harlem) and ROAR (The New Group). A New York Times Critics’ Pick, ROAR was the first play about a Palestinian-American family produced off-Broadway and is widely taught at universities across the country. A UNESCO Young Artist for Intercultural Dialogue, her works have been translated into seven languages. Shamieh is currently the Mellon Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at the Classical Theatre of Harlem and a Visiting Artist at Stanford.
