We are proud to announce the winners of the 2018 Ghassan Kanafani writing scholarship. Alf Mabrook to Fargo Tbakhi, Ayah El-Fahmawi, and Susan Jenin!
Their submissions, along with other Palestinian writers and artists ages 18-25, will be published in the upcoming Ghassan Kanafani Anthology.
Image credit: Nidal El-Khairy
1ST PLACE
Fargo Tbakhi (he/him) is a queer Palestinian-American writer, performer, and aspiring muppet from Phoenix, Arizona. his work has been nominated for four Pushcarts, and is published or forthcoming in Cotton Xenomorph, Mizna, Crab Fat Magazine, Cosmonauts Avenue, Glass: a Journal of Poetry and Peach Mag. He tweets @YouKnowFargo and probably wants to hold your hand.
Writings: ‘2148: an imagined suite, after the return’
Image credit: Nidal El-Khairy
2nd place
Ayah El-Fahmawi was born in Zarqa, Jordan to her incredible parents Bassam El-Fahmawi and Ahlam Alabodi, without whom she would have no stories to tell. She is currently a senior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Biology and hopes to attend law school in the future with a focus in health care and human rights law. She is a member of The Excelano Project, Penn’s premiere and only spoken word poetry collective, as well as Penn Students for Justice in Palestine and UPenn’s Civic House.
Writings: ‘194; 1’
Image credit: Nidal El-Khairy
3rd place
Susan Jenin: Every generation of my family were born and raised in Palestine except me. I was born in Chicago. I believe that Art is an international language to voice and express those who have been silenced and oppressed. Palestinians have used art to speak out against the apartheid while their voices have been dismissed. My home town is my inspiration, our home we can no longer live in, our home that lives in us. We will return.
Painting: ‘Where is Home?’