Mohja Kahf is a “Syrian-American poet, novelist, and professor", born in 1967. She has a growing collection of published work that ranges from poetry, articles in journals and anthologies, fiction, prose, and scholarship. Some of her notable work includes “Manar of Hama”, a short story revolving around a protagonist who is adjusting to her new life in the United States after being exiled from her country of Syria. It takes the viewpoint similar to the situation of Kahf herself, being a Syrian-American woman in the United States. The main character deals with the isolation and hardships that come with assimilating into a new culture. However, as time goes on, she adopts a new understanding of “home” and starts to create familiarity with America, feeling more comfort and belonging.
Kahf can relate strongly to the character she created in "Manar of Hama". Kahf was born in Syria but moved to the United States at the age of three. Her parents obtained degrees at the University of Utah, and from then on, her family moved several times throughout the United States. Kahf has a very strong Syrian background, but America has become a huge part of her life and has assimilated into her identity, currently identifying herself as a Syrian-American woman. In her teachings as a professor, Kahf takes a fairly liberal stand on certain topics. She supports, teaches, and is passionate about “theories of feminism, Palestinian resistance women, and Black Power movement women”, according to a Wikipedia author.
In accordance with her literary work, Kahf explores and expresses her viewpoints on Muslim American assimilation to other cultures and communities of both religious and secular ideologies. Often times, her work contains themes of that prominent cultural overlap between Muslim Americans and other parties. “Syria, Islam, ethics, politics, feminism, human rights, the body, gender, and erotics” are all very extrusive themes in Kahf’s writing. One of her very notable poetry books is Emails From Schherazad where she uses humor as a vessel to express ideas on Arab and Muslim identities and practices. In her collection Hagar Poems, there is a strong dominance of females in the Islamic traditions discussed.
Kahf’s work has been recognized by several different organizations and foundations on different occasions. Her collection Hagar Poems was recognized as an honorable mention in the “2017 Book Awards of the Arab American National Museum”, “The Caul of Inshallah”, a short story about the difficult birth of her son, won a Pushcart Prize, E-mails From Scheherazade became a finalist for the 2004 Paterson Poetry Prize, and the list goes on for accolades and achievements in regards to her written work. In addition to the recognition from other foundations, Kahf’s pieces have been assimilated into different arts and medias. Jenny Holzer, an American neo-conceptual artist, has featured her poems in her work. “Two Friends Like Fireflies", another of Kahf’s poems, was presented alongside music accompaniment pieces by Joseph Gregario. Her poems have been translated and written in Japanese, Italian, as well as Arabic. Additionally, those same poems were featured in an on-screen adaptation, a BBC documentary, Poems from Syria.
