2026 May Ziadeh Distinguished Lecture in Palestinian & Arab Studies: Writing in the Aftermath

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha is a poet, essayist, and translator. She is the author of three books of poetry: Something About Living (UAkron, 2024), winner of the 2024 National Book Award and winner of the 2022 Akron Prize for Poetry; Kaan & Her Sisters (Trio House Press, 2023), finalist for the 2024 Firecracker Award and honorable mention for the 2024 Arab American Book Award; and Water & Salt (Red Hen, 2017), winner of the 2018 Washington State Book Award and honorable mention for the 2018 Arab American Award. Her writing has appeared in journals including Los Angeles Review of Books, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Nation, Poets.org, Protean, Prairie Schooner, and many others. Tuffaha’s work has also been anthologized widely, including in The Long Devotion (Georgia Press), We Call to the Eye and the Night (Persea Press), and Gaza Unsilenced (Just World Books). She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington and an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University’s Rainier Writing Workshop. Tuffaha lives with her family in Redmond, Washington.

This event is cosponsored by: The Institute for South Asia Studies, Department of English, Gender and Women’s Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Center for Race and Gender, Department of Anthropology, Asian American Research Center, and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies.

Speaker: Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, Award winning poet, essayist, and translator

Admission Information: This is a hybrid event that is free and open to the public. Pre-registration (in-person or virtually) is required via the following link: https://bit.ly/ZiadehLecture

In-person location: Maude Fife Room (Room 315) in Wheeler Hall, University of California, Berkeley

Contact Information:
PAS Program
pasprogram@berkeley.edu
Access Coordinator:
Disability Access and Compliance, access@berkeley.edu, 5106436456