Scope and ContentBorn in 1986 in Carbondale, Illinois, to Palestinian parents, Hala Alyan was raised across cultures—a diasporic upbringing that shapes much of her work. A poet, novelist, and clinical psychologist, she holds an MFA from Columbia University and a doctorate from Rutgers. Alyan’s writing, often centered on identity, trauma, and displacement, blends psychological insight with lyrical storytelling. Her debut poetry collection, Atrium (2012), won the Arab American Book Award, and her novel Salt Houses (2017) received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. A Pushcart Prize recipient, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Guernica, and The New York Times.