Life
Born in a small coal mining community in southwest Pennsylvania, she lived with her parents and her five siblings in a household strongly rooted in Lebanese tradition. Her childhood was spent helping out in her family store, attending Catholic church twice a day, and focusing on her schooling. Abinader and her siblings faced challenges due to their ethnicity. Abinader received her B.A. in Writing and Communication from University of Pittsburgh in 1974. It was during this time that she embrace her heritage and wrote about her family’s history. She earned her MFA in Poetry from Columbia University, School of the Arts Poetry Writing, in 1978. In 1985, she completed herWork
Abinader's first book, ''Children of the Roojme: A Family's Journey from Lebanon'' (Norton, 1991, University of Wisconsin, 1997), was published in 1997. This book, a memoir, crosses three generations of Lebanese and covers the challenges of finding a home away from their country. Her second publication, ''In the Country of My Dreams...'', is a collections of poetry focused on dislocation and its various forms. This collection won the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award for Multi-cultural Poetry in 2000 and a Goldies Award for Literature. Along with her books, she has written and performed in several one-woman plays: ''Under The Ramadan Moon,'' ''Country of Origin,'' ''32 Mohammeds,'' ''Voices From the Siege,'' and ''The Torture Quartet.'' Her play ''Country of Origin'' was performed atBibliography
Books
*"This House, My Bones" Willow Books, 2014 *''In the Country of My Dreams...'' Sufi Warrior Publishing, 1999 *''The Children of the Roojme, a Family’s Journey from Lebanon'', Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1997 *''The Children of the Roojme, a Family's Journey'', New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991.Performances
*''Imagining Peace'', Southbank Centre, London UK, October 2010 *''Country of Origin'', Arabesques Festival, Kennedy Center, Washington DC, March 2009 *''Lies War Discrimination'', La Pena Cultural Center, Berkeley CA March 1, 2007 *''Cease Fire, La Pena Cultural Center'', Berkeley CA, August 2006 *''Poetry and Music of Arab-Americans'', Amazon Lounge, Fresno CA, April 20, 2006 *''Voices from the Siege'', debuted 2006, La Pena Cultural Center,Awards and residencies
*2013 Writers in Residence, Grand Canyon National Park *2013 Residency Fellowship, Canserrat Artist Residency, Spain *2011 Teaching Fellowship, Palestine Writing Workshop *2010 Writer in Residence, El Gouna Writers Residency, Egypt *2010 Quigley Summer Fellowship *2010 Faculty Development Grant, Mills College *2007 Arts Fellowship, Silicon Valley Arts Council, Fiction *2006 Residency MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH *2006 Residency, Villa Montalvo, Saratoga, CA *2003 Endowed Chair, Mills College *2003References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abinader, Elmaz 1954 births Poets from California American writers of Lebanese descent American women poets Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Living people Mills College faculty University of Pittsburgh alumni University of Nebraska alumni Writers from Oakland, California Writers from Pennsylvania Activists from Oakland, California PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets 20th-century American women writers American women academics 21st-century American women writers