Diana Abu-Jaber ( ar, ديانا أبو جابر) is an American author and a professor at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two dec ...

Early life and education

Abu-Jaber was born in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city' ...

. Her father was

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian with a Palestinian Jerusalemite mother; Diana's mother was

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, descended from Irish and German roots. At the age of seven, she moved with her family for two years to Jordan. She received a BA in English and Creative Writing from the

State University of New York at Oswego State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego or Oswego State) is a public college in the City of Oswego and Town of Oswego, New York. It has two campuses: historic lakeside campus in Oswego and Metro Center in Syracuse, New York. SU ...

, an MA in English and Creative Writing from the

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universi ...

, and a PhD in English and Creative Writing from

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the Stat ...

. She divides her time between Miami and Portland.

Career

Abu-Jaber writes about Arab and Arab-American culture and identity, often using the culture of food and food production. Her academic appointments include: Visiting Assistant Professor, English,

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of th ...

(1990); Assistant Professor, English,

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

(1990–1995); and

Writer-in-Residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

/Professor, English Department, Portland State University (1996–present).

Bibliography

;Fiction * ''Arabian Jazz'' (1993) -

Oregon Book Award The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by Literary Arts to honor the "state’s finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, graphic literature, drama, literary nonfiction, and literature for young readers. ...

(1994) * ''Crescent'' (2003) - PEN Center USA Award for Literary Fiction (1994), Twenty Noteworthy Novels of 2003 by ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'' * ''Origin'' (2007) * ''Birds Of Paradise'' (2011) * ''Fencing with the King'' (2022) ;Nonfiction/memoir * ''The Language of Baklava'' (2005) * ''Life Without a Recipe'' (2016) ;Young Adult fiction * ''Silverworld'' (2020) ;Essays
The Other Woman: Twenty-one Wives, Lovers, and Others Talk Openly About Sex, Deception, Love, and Betrayal
includes "The Lost City of Love"

References

External links

"My Elizabeth," a short story by Diana Abu-Jaber

Portland State Faculty Profile

2011 radio interview
(one hour) at The Bat Segundo Show {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu-Jaber, Diana Living people American people of Jordanian descent

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

University of Windsor alumni University of Oregon faculty Novelists from Oregon 20th-century American novelists American women novelists Portland State University faculty 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Binghamton University alumni American Book Award winners Novelists from New York (state) American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Women autobiographers Year of birth missing (living people) American women academics