Jessica Abughattas is an American poet. Her debut poetry collection, ''Strip'', was the winner of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize and was published by

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

Press. Abughattas is of

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 ...

heritage and was born and raised in California. She has a BFA in Journalism from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the student paper. She received her MFA from

Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. It is the continuation of Antioch College, which was founded in 1852. Antioch College's first president was politician, abolitionist, and ...

and is a member of RAWI (Radius of Arab American Writers). Her book was chosen for the

Etel Adnan Etel Adnan (; 24 February 1925 – 14 November 2021) was a Lebanese-American poet, essayist, and visual artist. In 2003, Adnan was named "arguably the most celebrated and accomplished Arab American author writing today" by the academic journal '' ...

Poetry Prize by Hayan Charara and

Fady Joudah Fady Joudah (born 1971) is a Palestinian-American poet and physician. He is the 2007 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition for his collection of poems '' The Earth in the Attic''. Life Joudah was born in Austin, Texas Aus ...

, who said of her book: "''Strip'' is a captivating debut about desire and dispossession, and that tireless poetic metaphor, the body. Audacious and clear-eyed, plainspoken and brassy, these are songs that break free from confinement."

Victoria Chang Victoria Chang is an American poet, writer, editor, and critic. She has experimented with different styles of writing, including writing poems shaped in obituaries, for parts of her life, including her parents and herself, in ''OBIT'', letters in ...

said, "Any subject Abughattas writes about becomes a conundrum in the most beautiful of ways, whether the poet is investigating politics, family, identity, or love."

References

Living people American women poets American people of Palestinian descent Pepperdine University alumni Antioch University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women writers {{US-poet-stub