The Art of Story & Advocacy

Posted February 29, 2024December 17, 2024 in Alumni, Creative Writing, Stories

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Award-winning author and Creative Writing MFA graduate Susan Muaddi Darraj crafts powerful narratives for both adults and children, earning recognition for her ability to bring complex themes to life. With honors including an American Book Award, two Arab American Book Awards, and the Maryland State Arts Council Independent Artist Award, her work continues to resonate with readers and critics alike.

From the acclaimed short story collection A Curious Land to the beloved Farah Rocks children’s series, Darraj’s storytelling highlights identity, heritage, and connection. Her latest work, Behind You is the Sea, has earned praise from The Washington Post, Baltimore Magazine, and NPR’s WYPR, capturing the attention of readers far and wide.

Dive into the world of Darraj’s stories and the voices they amplify.

A Career of Words and Impact

Muaddi Darraj is an editor at Barrelhouse Magazine and the former editor-in-chief of The Baltimore Review. Her fiction has been featured in New York Stories, The Orchid Literary Review, Mizna, Sukoon, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Banipal, and other publications. Her articles, essays, and reviews have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, The Little Patuxent Review, The Baltimore City Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Al-Jadid, Baltimore Magazine, Pages Magazine, Sojourner, Calyx, Urbanite, and additional outlets. As a participating author with the PEN/Faulkner Writers in Schools program, Susan has served on the selection committee for the One Maryland One Book (OMOB) program of the Maryland Humanities Council and frequently acts as a judge for writing contests and as a panelist on state and national grant programs in the creative arts. In 2019, she joined the #KidsNeedMentors initiative, pairing with local schools as a visiting author.

Promoting Justice Through Words

In 2019, Susan launched the viral #TweetYourThobe social media campaign to promote Palestinian culture. Later that year, she was named the winner of the Rose Nader Award by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), an honor given by the Nader family to individuals who demonstrate a strong dedication and commitment to values of equality and justice. She edited “Scheherazade’s Legacy: Arab and Arab American Women on Writing,” published in 2004 by Praeger Publishers. With Waïl Hassan, she co-edited a volume for the MLA’s Approaches to Teaching World Literature Series on Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. She has contributed chapters to several anthologies and collections, including “Dinarzad’s Children: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Fiction” and “Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism.” Her other books include young adult biographies of Indira Gandhi, Amy Tan, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, among others, for Chelsea House Publishers.

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Themes of Identity, Conflict, and Connection

Susan’s contributions extend to “A Curious Land,” “The Inheritance of Exile,” and her most recent, “Behind You is the Sea.” Her latest novel explores a Palestinian American community in Baltimore, focusing on the intertwined lives of the Baladi, Salameh, and Ammar families. It confronts cultural stereotypes and explores themes such as identity, intergenerational conflict, and class distinctions. The narrative captures a range of emotions and events, from joyous weddings to solemn funerals, reflecting both personal growth and the collective spirit of the community, providing an insightful look into the challenges and triumphs faced by Palestinian Americans.