Early Arab American Literature
- Ameen Rihani (1876-1940) was an Arab American writer of Lebanese decent and the first Arab American to publish a novel in English in the United States.
- Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese American poet most famous for his book The Prophet, published in 1923.
- Other early Arab American literary figures include Elia abu Madi, Mikhail Naimy, and Nasib Arida, all of whom were members of the Pen League, an Arab-American literary society.
Early 19th Century
Some of the Arab American writers writing during 1920’s and 30’s, when the Johnson-Reed Quota Act limited the number of immigrants, and the literary contributions from Arab Americans were few.*
- William Blatty, famous for his novel The Exorcist
- Vance Bourjaily
Contemporary Arab American Writers:
- Elmaz Abinader, Diana Abu-Jaber, Joseph Geha, D.H. Melhem
- Poets: H.S. Hamod, Samuel Hazo, Lawrence Joseph, Naomi Shihab Nye, Lisa Suhair Majaj, Etel Adnan
*Much of the information here is derived from Lisa Suhair Majaj’s article in the American Studies Journal, Number 52, Winter 2008, “Arab American Literature: Origins and Developments”. See this article for more comprehensive overview of Arab American Literature.
EthnoLit 