Majaj, Lisa Suhair 1960-

PERSONAL:

Born October 13, 1960, in Hawarden, IA; daughter of Isa Joudeh (in business) and Jean Caroline (a secretary and librarian; maiden name, Stoltenberg) Majaj; married Andreas N. Alexandrou (a professor of engineering), 1985; children: Nadia Jean, Nicolas Isa. Ethnicity: "Arab-American (Palestinian)."Education: American University of Beirut, B.A. (with high distinction), 1982; University of Michigan, M.A. (English), 1984, M.A. (American culture), 1986, and doctoral study.

ADDRESSES:

Home—4 Michael Koutsofta St., Engomi 2407, Nicosia, Cyprus. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Beirut Language Institute, Beirut, Lebanon, instructor in English, 1979-80; College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, teacher of interdisciplinary and special studies, 1991-93; Amherst College, Amherst, MA, lecturer in women's and gender studies, 1992; teacher of adult education classes in Boston, MA, 1996-97; Northeastern University, Boston, visiting scholar in women's studies, 1998-99; elementary school creative writing teacher, 2002-03; writer and critic. Guest lecturer at educational and cultural institutions, including Amherst College, Harvard University, Jordan University for Women, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown University, University of Arkansas, University of Michigan, University of Manheim (Germany), andCity University of New York; also gives readings from her poetry. Coordinator of literary contest, Quest for Arab-American Literature of Accomplishment and Merit, 1999; conference organizer. Member of editorial board, MELUS: Journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, 2002—.

MEMBER:

Modern Language Association of America, American Studies Association, MELUS: Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, Association for Middle East Women's Studies,Middle East Studies Association, Arab American University Graduates (board member, 1996-98), RAWI: Radius of Arab American Writers (board member, 1995-96), Academy of American Poets.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Pushcart Prize nominations for poetry, 1994, 1996; Gretchen Warren Prize, New EnglandPoetry Club, 1995, 1998; U.S. Information Service grant for Jerusalem, West Bank, and Jordan, 1997; speaker grant from Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, 1998; distinguished service award, Nicholas G. Beram Veterans Association, 2000.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Amal Amireh) Going Global: The Transnational Reception of Third World Women Writers,Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 2000.

(Editor, with Amal Amireh, and contributor) Etel Adnan: Critical Essays on the Arab-American Writer and Artist, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 2002.

(Editor, with Paula Sunderman and Therese Saliba, and contributor) Intersections: Gender, Nation, and Community in Arab Women's Novels,Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 2002.

These Words (poetry chapbook), [Nicosia, Cyprus], 2003.

Contributor to books, including Food for Our Grandmothers: Writings by Arab-American and Arab-Canadian Feminists, edited by Joanna Kadi, South End Press, 1994; Memory and Cultural Politics: New Essays in American Ethnic Literatures, edited by Amritjit Singh, Joseph Skerrett, and Robert E. Hogan, Northeastern University Press (Boston, MA), 1995;Arabs in America: Building a New Future, edited by Michael Suleiman, Temple University Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1999; Postcolonial Theory and the United States, edited by Amritjit Singh and Peter Schmidt, University of Mississippi Press (Jackson, MS), 2000; and Scheherazade's Legacy: Arab and Arab-American Women on Writing, edited by Susan Muaddi Darraj, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2004. Contributor of articles, poetry, essays, and reviews to periodicals, including Aramco World, Thaqafat, Women's Review of Books, South Atlantic Quarterly, Global City Review, Absinthe, Radical Philosophy Review, Islamic Studies, Sistersong, and Cobblestone. Contributing editor,Forkroads: Journal of Ethnic-American Literature,1995-96; editor of special issue, AAUG Monitor, 1998; advisory editor, Cyprus Literary Review, 2004—.

Some of Majaj's writings have been translated into Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Wildfire, a poetry manuscript; an Arab-American children's book.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Arab Studies Quarterly, summer, 2003, Jack Hirschman, review of Etel Adnan: Critical Essays on the Arab-American Writer and Artist, p. 97.

MELUS: Journal of the Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States,winter, 2003, Tanyss Ludescher, review of Etel Adnan, p. 229.

Middle East Journal, summer, 2003, review ofIntersections: Gender, Nation, and Community in Arab Women's Novels, p. 528.

Middle East Women's Studies Review, spring-summer, 2003, Pauline Homsi Vinson, review of Intersections,p. 6.

Studies in the Humanities, June-December, 2003, Hala Kh. Nassar, review of Intersections, p. 217.