List of Arab-American writers

This is a list of Arab-American writers.

Arab-American poets

• George Abraham (poet), of Palestinian descent
• Elia Abu Madi (1890–1957), Lebanese poet
• Etel Adnan (1925–2021), poet, essayist, and visual artist; Lebanese Albanian descent
• Joseph Awad (1929–2009), poet, painter, and worked in public relations; of Lebanese and Irish descent.
• Ibtisam Barakat (born 1963), bilingual author, poet, artist, translator, and educator; Palestinian descent.
• Sharif Elmusa, poet and editor
• Suheir Hammad (born 1973), poet, author, actress, performer, and political activist; of Palestinian descent
• Sam Hamod (1936–2021) poet, professor; of Lebanese descent
• Samuel John Hazo (born 1928), poet, playwright, fiction novelist, professor; of Assyrian and Lebanese descent
• Lawrence Joseph (born 1948), poet, writer, essayist, critic, lawyer, and professor of law; of Syrian and Lebanese descent
• Lisa Suhair Majaj (born 1960), poet and scholar.
• Jack Marshall (born 1936), poet and author; of Iraqi and Syrian descent
• Khaled Mattawa (born 1964), poet; of Libyan descent
• Jess Rizkallah, poet, writer, illustrator; of Lebanese descent
• Hedy Habra, poet, professor, fiction writer, literary critic and essayist; of Egyptian and Lebanese descent.

Arab-American fiction writers

• Chelsea Abdullah (fl. 2022), Kuwait-born fantasy writer, author of the Sandsea Trilogy
• Elmaz Abinader (born 1954), author, playwright and activist; of Lebanese descent; PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award recipient
• Susan Abulhawa (born 1970), fiction and nonfiction writer, author of Mornings in Jenin; of Palestinian descent
• Saladin Ahmed (born 1975), science fiction, comic book and fantasy author; of Lebanese, Egyptian, Irish, and Polish descent
• Dima Alzayat, fiction writer, author of Alligator and Other Stories; of Syrian descent
• William Peter Blatty (1928–2017), screenplay writer and novelist; of Lebanese descent
• Vance Bourjaily (1922–2010), novelist, playwright, journalist, creative writing teacher, and essayist
• Catherine Filloux, playwright; of Algerian and French descent
• Khalil Gibran (1883–1931), writer, poet and visual artist; of Lebanese descent
• Ray Hanania, columnist, stand-up comedian, reporter, editor, public relations firm owner; former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977 to 1992); of Palestinian descent
• Randa Jarrar (born 1978) writer, novelist, essayist, and Arabic-English translator; of Egyptian and Palestinian descent
• Zeyn Joukhadar, trans writer and former biomedical researcher; of Syrian descent
• Mohja Kahf (born 1967), is a poet, novelist, and professor; of Syrian descent
• Ismail Khalidi (born 1982), playwright, screenwriter and theater director; of Palestinian descent
• Laila Lalami (born 1968), novelist and essayist; of Moroccan descent
• Hisham Matar (born 1970), novelist, essayist, memoirist, and writer; of British and Libyan descent
• Claire Messud (born 1966), novelist and literature and creative writing professor; of Canadian and Algerian descent
• Susan Muaddi Darraj, essayist, writer; of Palestinian descent
• Mikha'il Na'ima (also known as Mikhail Naimy; 1889–1988), poet, novelist, and philosopher; Lebanese
• Naomi Shihab Nye (born 1952), poet, songwriter, and novelist; of Palestinian descent.
• Mahmoud Saeed (born 1939), novelist, essayist
• Mona Simpson (born 1957), novelist
• Thérèse Soukar Chehade, novelist; of Lebanese descent.

Arab-American nonfiction writers and journalists

• Diana Abu-Jaber, food history, of Jordanian and Palestinian descent
• Hakim Almasmari, journalist, publisher, editor; of Yemeni descent
• Moustafa Bayoumi (born 1958), history writer, academic; of Egyptian descent
• Chawky Frenn, painter, professor, writer of books on artists
• Afifa Karam (1883–1924), journalist, novelist, and translator; of Lebanese descent
• Rashid Khalidi (born 1948), historian of the Middle East; of Palestinian descent
• Daoud Kuttab (born 1955), journalist; Palestinian
• Saree Makdisi (born 1964), literary critic; of Palestinian and Lebanese descent
• Eugene Paul Nassar (1935–2017), editor, professor, and literary critic; of Lebanese descent
• Gregory Orfalea (born 1949), essayist, historian and poet; of Syrian and Lebanese descent
• Amin al-Rihani (Ameen Rihani; 1876–1940) writer, intellectual and political activist; part of the mahjar literary movement; of Lebanese descent.
• Abraham Mitrie Rihbany (1869–1944), theologian, philologist and historian; of Lebanese descent
• Salom Rizk (1908–1973), author, best known for his 1943 immigration-themed autobiography; of Lebanese descent
• Edward Said (1935–2003), writer, professor of literature, a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies; of Palestinian descent
• Steven Salaita (born 1975), academic writer, and historian; of Jordanian and Palestinian descent
• Anthony Shadid (1968–2021), foreign news correspondent; of Lebanese descent.
• Evelyn Shakir (1938–2010), literary scholar; a pioneer in the study of Arab American literature; of Lebanese descent.

See also

• Arab American Book Award
• Before Columbus Foundation
• Kawkab America
• The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States

Bibliography

Grape Leaves: A Century of Arab-American Poetry, edited by Gregory Orfalea and Sharif Elmusa, 1988, University of Utah Press.