About Mohja Kahf
Mohja Kahf, born in 1967 in Damascus (Syria), is a Syrian-American poet, novelist and teacher. Kahf's work explores themes of cultural dissonance and overlap between Muslim-American and other communities, both religious and secular. Kahf's work explores themes of cultural dissonance and overlap between Muslim Americans and other communities. Recurring themes in her writing include Syria, Islam, ethics, politics, feminism, human rights, the body, gender, and eroticism. In her 2003 poetry collection, Emails from Schherazad, she presents diverse Arab and Muslim identities and practices, always with a touch of humor. The collection was a finalist for the 2004 Paterson Poetry Prize. Her 2006 fiction novel, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, was a critically acclaimed success. In 2010, Kahf received the Pushcart Prize for her essay, The Caul of Inshallah, which explores the difficult birth of her son.Her other work, Hagar Poems, allows for a reconfiguration of female figures from the Islamic tradition, which earned the collection an honorable mention at the Book Awards of the Arab American National Museum in 2017. Her poem Two Friends Like Fireflies was set to music by Joseph Gregario at the request of the Women's Commission Consortium of the American Choral Director's Association and subsequently performed by the women's choir Soli Deo Gloria. Her works have been translated into Japanese, Italian, and Arabic. Kahf's poetry collections contributed to the BBC documentary Poems from Syria.
Alongside her career as a novelist and poet, Kahf writes articles on sexuality for a progressive Muslim website, MuslimWakeUp!.com. Her article Sex and the Umma contains short stories written by Kahf and guest writers such as Randa Jarrar, Michael Muhammad Knight, and Laila Al-Marayati. Her work as a columnist for this site has earned her numerous attacks.
Browse all poems and texts published on Mohja Kahf
