A Palestinian you should know: Susan Muaddi Darraj
Palestinian-American author Susan Muaddi Darraj was featured at the National Book Festival this year for her series: “Farah Rocks”.
“Farah Rocks Fifth Grade” was selected to represent Maryland in the Library of Congress’ Great Reads from Great Places program. The series was launched last January and is about a Palestinian American girl named Farah Hajjar.
Darraj, who is responsible for the viral Tweet Your Thobe campaign in 2019, has been recognized several times since 2016 for her writing:
Her short story collection, A Curious Land: Stories from Home, was named the winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction. It also won the 2016 Arab American Book Award, a 2016 American Book Award
In 2018, she was named a Ford Fellow by USA Artists. Susan also is a two-time recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council.
She was named winner of the Rose Nader Award, by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), an award given by the Nader family to a person who “demonstrates an unwavering dedication and commitment to values of equality and justice.”
