2017 Arab American Book Awards Announced: 3 Big Names, 1 YA Debut

The winners of the 2017 Arab American Book Awards have been announced, with well-known authors Rabih Alameddine (fiction), Hayan Charara (poetry), and Steven Salaita (nonfiction) taking three of the top awards:

The fourth award, for children’s and young adult literature, went to pediatric nurse and first-time children’s author Michelle Chalfoun for The Treasure of Maria Mamoun.

The awards  —  sponsored by the Arab American National Museum — will be presented at a celebration on Saturday, Oct. 7 at the museum, which is in Dearborn, Michigan.

A complete list of winners and honorable mentions:

WINNER: Fiction Award

The Angel of History
By Rabih Alameddine

HONORABLE MENTION: Fiction

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl
By Mona Awad

WINNER: Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award

Inter/Nationalism: Decolonizing Native America and Palestine

By Steven Salaita

HONORABLE MENTION: Non-Fiction

Industrial Sexuality: Gender, Urbanization, and Social Transformation in Egypt

By Hanan Hammad

WINNER: George Ellenbogen Poetry Award

Something Sinister
By Hayan Charara

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Poetry

One Hundred Hungers
By Lauren Camp

Hagar Poems
By Mohja Kahf

WINNER: Children/Young Adult

The Treasure of Maria Mamoun
By Michelle Chalfoun

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Children/Young Adult

The Three Lucys
By Hayan Charara (author) and Sara Kahn (illustrator)

Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine
By Ibtisam Barakat

A call for submissions for the 2018 awards will be issued in December 2017. More about all the books at the Arab American National Museum website.