Mona Kareem (; born 1987) is an Arab-American writer, translator and literary scholar. She is also an advocate of migrant rights. Kareem was born and raised in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. Her family is classified as

Bedoon The Bedoon or Bidoon (fully Bidoon jinsiya, ar, بدون ''Bidūn'' ar, بدون جنسية, 'without nationality') are stateless people in several Middle Eastern countries, but particularly in Kuwait, where there is a large population of state ...

, or stateless.

Education and career

Due to Kareem's stateless legal status, she could not attend a public university. Her academic history and poetic prowess earned her a scholarship from a charitable family in Kuwait. Kareem studied at the

American University of Kuwait The American University of Kuwait is a private liberal arts institution based on the American model of higher education in Kuwait. Although established in 2003, the University opened to students, faculty and the general public in September 2004. ...

. Kareem received a scholarship from Binghamton University in 2011. She moved to the US and obtained a doctoral degree in Comparative Literature. Her thesis, entitled “Good Mothers, Bad Sisters: Arab Women Writers in the Nation,” explored subalternity in the Arab literary scene. Kareem worked as a lecturer at Binghamton University and at the University of Maryland. She has held fellowships from Poetry International,

Arab American National Museum The Arab American National Museum (AANM, ar, المتحف الوطني العربي الأمريكي) opened in 2005 and is the first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture. Located in Dearborn, Michigan, the Museum se ...

BANFF Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, National Centre for Writing, etc. Kareem translated the novel ''Kindred'' by

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship ...

and some poems of Alejandra Pizarnik into Arabic. She translated ''Instructions Within'' by

Ashraf Fayadh Ashraf Fayadh ( ar, أشرف فياض, born 1980 in Saudi Arabia) is an artist and poet of Palestinian origin. He is the son of refugees from Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip and lives in Saudi Arabia. He was active in the British-Arabian arts organiza ...

(2017) and it was nominated for

Best Translated Book Award The Best Translated Book Award is an American literary award that recognizes the previous year's best original translation into English, one book of poetry and one of fiction. It was inaugurated in 2008 and is conferred by Three Percent, the onlin ...

. She is presently a translator-in-residence at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. Having faced discrimination as a Bidoon, Kareem established Bedoon Rights, an online reference dedicated to raising awareness on the prejudice and struggles the stateless face in Kuwait. As a literary scholar, Kareem's research interests range from Arabic poetry and

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

, contemporary

feminist fiction The following is a list of feminist literature, listed by year of first publication, then within the year alphabetically by title (using the English title rather than the foreign language title if available/applicable). Books and magazines are ...

, and

literary translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

strategies to subaltern subjectivities. Mona Kareem was denied entry to Kuwait at

Kuwait International Airport Kuwait International Airport ( ar, مطار الكويت الدولي, ) is an international airport located in the Farwaniya Governorate, Kuwait, south of the centre of Kuwait City, spread over an area of . It serves as the primary hub for K ...

when she flew there to see her family in 2023. Kareem told the Associated Press that Kuwaiti authorities informed her that she risked imprisonment if she remained in the country. She had previously been questioned about Bidoon-related activism and pledged not to have political discussions.

Poetry

Kareem's poetry is characterized by the use of simple language and vivid imagery. It is frequently arranged in short lines. The theme often deals with feminism and identity, especially as a migrant.

Works

At 14 years old, Kareem published her first poetry collection, . Two years later, she released her second anthology . Kareem published ''Ma anamū min adjlihi el yaum'' in 2016. In 2019, she released trilingual poetry collection ''Femme Ghosts.'' Her books have been translated to nine languages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kareem, Mona 1987 births Kuwaiti women poets Living people Binghamton University alumni University System of Maryland faculty Princeton University faculty Stateless people Binghamton University faculty Arab translators English–Arabic translators