Images/Bio Sources: https://www.smith.edu/poetrycenter/wp/hammad/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suheir_Hammad https://www.carnegie.org/awards/honoree/suheir-hammad/ https://www.ted.com/speakers/suheir_hammad https://www.aljadid.com/content/drops-suheir-hammad-talk-palestinian-poet-born-black https://www.ted.com/talks/suheir_hammad_poems_of_war_peace_women_power https://mosaicmagazine.org/suheir-hammad-interview/

Historical Note

Suheir Hammad (1973- ) is a poet, author, actor, and political activist. Born in Amman to Palestinian refugee parents, Hammad moved to Brooklyn, New York at five years old. After being forced from Lydda during the Nakba, her family had lived in Gaza before relocating to Amman up until her early childhood. Hammad unearths and illuminates a common theme of dispossession through her identities as an immigrant, Palestinian, Muslim, and woman living within societal sexism. She was offered a deal with HBO's Def Poetry Jam after Russell Simmons discovered her 9/11 reaction piece "First Writing Since." She starred in Annemarie Jacir's Salt of this Sea (2008), Official Selection for the Cannes International Film Festival of that year. Past awards include the Audre Lorde Writing Award, Hunter College (1995, 2000), the Morris Center for Healing Poetry Award (1996), New York Mills Artists Residency (1998), Van Lier Fellowship (1999), 2001 Emerging Artist Award at NYU (2001), and the Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event as an original cast member and writer for Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway (2003). She has produced a documentary film entitled Half a Lifetime, and notable works include Born Palestinian, Born Black and Drops of This Story. Through her poetry Hammad desires to transcend cultural and religious barriers, and her writings have appeared in over a dozen anthologies.