I was born in Berkeley, California and raised in Michigan by a single mom. My mother was a painter by night but worked most of my childhood as a secretary to support us. Originally from Mosul, Iraq, her parents immigrated to Detroit in the 1930s to try their luck with a grocery store in Detroit’s downtown. Growing up I was surrounded by a large community of warm yet deracinated Arab relatives. I spent a good deal of my youth studying dance and eventually continued my training in high school at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan’s northern woods.
I went on to study Arabic and English Literature at Wesleyan and Columbia University. I spent some years living in Cairo while learning Arabic, traveling in the Middle East, and doing research for my dissertation. I have taught at New York University, Hofstra, Columbia, and for a longer stretch at Williams College in the Arabic and Comparative Literature programs. My research interests include contemporary Arabic and American cultural production as well as the exploration of gender, urban space, and working-class identity.
I have called New York home for the better part of my adult life. For the last several years I’ve lived in Washington Heights with my husband and two children. In addition to various editing projects, I teach part-time at Hunter College in their Arabic Studies program and am at work on a novel.