Suheir Hammad

Suheir Hammad is a Palestinian American poet, author and political activist who was born on October 1973 in Amman, Jordan to Palestinian refugee parents and immigrated with her family to Brooklyn, New York City when she was five years old.

She is the author of breaking poems, recipient of a 2009 American Book Award, and the Arab American Book award for Poetry 2009. Her other books are ZaatarDiva, Born Palestinian, Born Black and Drops of This Story. Her work has been widely anthologized and her produced plays include “Blood Trinity” and “breaking letter(s),” as well as the libretto for the multimedia “Re-Orientalism.”

An original writer and performer in the TONY award winning Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, Suheir appears in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, Salt of This Sea.