Etaf Rum is a

Palestinian-American Palestinian Americans () are Americans who are of full or partial Palestinian descent. There are around 160,000 Palestinian American refugees according to the 2023 American Community Survey, making up around 0.05% of the U.S. population. Th ...

novelist and ''New York Times'' best-selling author of ''A Woman is No Man'' (2019) and ''Evil Eye'' (2023).

Early life and education

Etaf Rum was born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, to

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

parents. Her parents grew up in

refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displac ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

before immigrating to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and her grandparents also lived out their lives in refugee camps in Palestine. Rum was raised in a traditional family and entered into an arranged marriage at a young age. She then moved to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

where, at the age of 19, she gave birth to her daughter and son two years later. While raising her children, Rum enrolled in

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

, where she earned a B.A. in English Language and Literature, a B.S. in philosophy, and an M.A. in American and British Literature and Philosophy.

Work

Echoes of Rum's experience can be found in her debut novel, ''A Woman is No Man'' released in 2019. Frustrated by the restrictions on her life and wondering why she could not pursue the kinds of things a man could, her grandmother told her, "Because. You can't do this because you're not a man." Rejecting that dictum, Rum pursued her education. As she told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

Scott Simon Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) is an American journalist and the host of '' Weekend Edition Saturday'' on NPR. Early life Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons.

: While teaching literature at a local community college, the idea of a novel first occurred to her. She realized that literature on the

Arab American Arab Americans ( or ) are Americans who trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants from the Arabic-speaking countries. In the United States census, Arabs are racially classified as White Americans which is defined as "A person ha ...

experience from a female perspective hardly existed and needed to be told. Rum's second novel ''Evil Eye'' was released in 2023 and was named an NPR Best Book of the Year. The story explores themes of intergenerational trauma, mental health and illness, and gendered oppression. In an interview with

Shondaland Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer and producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her fir ...

, Rum stated:

I really wanted to paint a very realistic portrait of what some women in the world still struggle with despite the endless feminism, the #MeToo movement that’s given us a voice, and how empowered we are now compared to the previous generations.

Personal life

Rum lives in

Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount is a city in Nash and Edgecombe counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 census, making it the 20th-most populous city in North Carolina. The city is east of Raleigh, the st ...

with her children; she is divorced. She runs the Instagram account @booksandbeans and posts there about her favorite books each month as a

Book of the Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ch ...

Ambassador. Rum has been vocal online about advocating for Palestinian liberation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rum, Etaf Living people North Carolina State University alumni People from Rocky Mount, North Carolina Writers from North Carolina 21st-century American women writers Year of birth missing (living people) Muslims from North Carolina American people of Palestinian descent Writers from Brooklyn