UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Three noteworthy Palestinian writers will visit Penn State to read from their works and discuss the challenges of writing while living in a region of displacement and conflict.
The event, Writing in Displacement: Focus on Palestinian Writers, will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 10, in the HUB-Robeson Center’s Heritage Hall Penn State University Park. Lunch and refreshments will be provided during the event, which is free and open to the public; however, advance registration is required for those planning to attend lunch.
Writers participating in the event include:
- Fargo Nissim Tbakhi, a Palestinian American performance artist and poet. He is the author of “Terror Counter” (Deep Vellum, 2025), a poetry collection that was long-listed for the National Book Award. His most recent collection, “Antigone. Velocity. Salt.” (Deep Vellum), is forthcoming from Deep Vellum. Tbakhi is a previous recipient of the Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Prize and has received fellowships from Rhizome DC, VisArts, Desert Nights Rising Stars, Halcyon Arts Lab, Mosaic Theater and the Radius of Arab American Writers.
- Hind Shoufani, an Oscar-nominated/BAFTA-winning Palestinian American filmmaker, writer and poet. She is the editor of two anthologies of literary essays, poetry and photography, “Nowhere Near a Damn Rainbow” and “Uncommon Dubai,” and has published numerous poems and essays in numerous journals, magazines and anthologies. Her latest book, “Dark Star Requiem” (Diode Editions), was published in 2025. Shoufani is also the contributing editor of the political journal, Discontent, and she has curated and hosted poetry/spoken word communal events under her platform, “Poeticians,” for nearly two decades.
- Sharif S. Elmusa, a scholar, poet, writer and translator. Apart from his academic publications on politics of the environment and ecocriticism and his translations of Arabic poetry and fiction, he is the co-editor with Greg Orfalea of “Grape Leaves: A Century of Arab-American Poetry” and author of a book of poems, “Flawed Landscape.” Elmusa’s poems and essays have appeared in more than a dozen magazines worldwide including The Massachusetts Review, The Indian Quarterly, Jadaliyya.com, The Michigan Quarterly Review; and the anthologies, Here: Poems for the Planet, Wait: Poems from the Pandemic, and Whitman on Walls.
The morning readings will be guided by Benjamin Schreier, Mitrani Family Professor of Jewish Studies and English at Penn State. Tamir Sorek, Penn State Liberal Arts Professor of History, will moderate the afternoon panel discussion. Publications by the authors will also be available for purchase and signing throughout the day.
“Writing in Displacement,” is an annual series that brings writers from regions of conflict to Penn State each spring to read from their works and discuss their craft. In addition to the readings and panel discussion, “Writing in Displacement” features an essay competition open to all undergraduates that offers them an opportunity to reflect on their engagement with the writing and performance of one or more of the authors featured at the event.
This event is sponsored by Suresh Canagarajah, Evan Pugh University Professor of Applied Linguistics, English, and Asian Studies at Penn State. Co-sponsors include the Departments of Applied Linguistics, of Comparative Literature, of English and of History; the Creative Writing Program; the Center for Democratic Deliberation; the Center for Global Studies; the Paul Robeson Cultural Center; the Edwin Erle Sparks Professorship in Applied Linguistics and Jewish Studies; the Migration Studies Project; and Penn State University Libraries. To learn more about the event, please contact Canagarajah at asc16@psu.edu.