News, Interviews, and Guest Essays
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Find Your People at AWP Baltimore: March 4–7, 2026
How to find your people, connect with other members of the RAWI community, and escape the noise in welcoming spaces at AWP 2026 in Baltimore.
Join RAWI for an Offsite Dance Party at AWP Baltimore!
RAWI is a proud sponsor of “Hard Times Require Furious Dancing,” an offsite dance party organized by CityLit Project. Join us Friday, March 6, a short walk from the Convention Center.
30 More SWANA Books in 2025: July-December Releases
Preview forthcoming titles by SWANA authors out later this year (2025), from poetry collections to novels to memoirs.
Action Alert from RAWI, Mizna, and the SWANA Caucus at AWP
We must collectively insist that AWP adhere to its guidelines for panel selections, which are intended to avoid outsized external influence and political lobbying.
Stories versus State: A Reflection on Alia Yunis’ The Night Counter
"This year, after (unbelievably) the one-year anniversary of the genocide of Gazans that began on October 7, 2023, teaching this novel has had profound resonance.”
On the Past, Future, and the Singularity of Belonging
A Palestinian American poet on a year of genocide.
ZAGHROUTA!: Theophanies by Sarah Ghazal Ali
"I write towards the untouchable and unknowable divine. I write against silence and erasure."
31 New SWANA Books in 2025: January-June Releases
In the first half of 2025, new SWANA releases give us fresh types of stories and approaches!
Prompting Us Toward Resistance & Refusal, Toward Honesty & Action
May any words you write or speak this month, to yourself or others, pull you closer to life—from rubble, from loneliness or desolation—and out of despair. Whatever you might say in your life, do not delay it. Do it now. Say it now.
ZAGHROUTA!: Ask the Night for a Dream: Palestinian Writing from the Diaspora, from Palestine Writes Press
An Interview with Susan Muaddi Darraj, editor of Ask the Night for a Dream: Palestinian Writing from the Diaspora (Palestine Writes Press)
32 SWANA Book Releases for 2024 (January–June)
Writing for RAWI, Samia Saliba invites you to discover your next favorite read from this massive list of 2024 SWANA publications.
How to Write a Query Letter
Though the formula of a query letter is fairly straightforward, a good query letter not only sums up the premise, characters, and central obstacles of a novel, but also hooks the reader while communicating the category, genre, and tone of the book.
Mizna+RAWIFest Performer List and Bios
Check out the full performer list and bios for Mizna+RAWIFest 2023!
Mizna+RAWIFest Virtual Gallery
Check out the Mizna+RAWIFest virtual gallery, featuring visual art by Arab & SWANA artists!
Mizna+RAWIFest Final Schedule
Mizna + RAWIFest 2023 Program. (Photo credit: Shiyam Galyon, 2019.)
Statement on Palestine
The Radius of Arab American Writers stands in solidarity with Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, Gaza, and all of historic Palestine resisting settler-colonial violence.
On the Passing of Etel Adnan
The Board and community of the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI) grieves the passing of an extraordinary human and literary titan: Etel Adnan.
Statement of Solidarity for Palestine
We, at the Radius of Arab American Writers (RAWI), want to express our support for Palestinian liberation, today and always.
Statement of Solidarity: Black Lives Matter
The Radius of Arab American Writers stands in solidarity with the protests across the United States following the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others at the hands of racist police officers, civilians, and the systems that enable injustice and brutality. We must say Black Lives Matter, but we must also act on this truth.
