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| photo: Mallak Kassem | |
Maha Hashwi is a writer and spoken-word poet whose work explores the complexities of growing up Lebanese American in Dearborn, Mich. Her first book is The Pomegranate Is a Grenade (Central Avenue Poetry, September 1, 2026), a poetry collection that examines what it means to grow up Arab and Muslim in the United States. Hashwi leads a community writing workshop, Anyone Can Write, encouraging people of all backgrounds to put their stories on the page. She now lives in New York City.
Handsell readers your book:
A child of immigrants learns the harsh truths about growing up in America as a Muslim woman. She writes the lessons into poetry.
On your nightstand now:
Hanif Abdurraqib's There's Always This Year. I love how he tells stories of home and community through basketball. I think everyone should read Hanif's poetry, commentaries, or even his Instagram captions. No doubt you'll learn something and come away amazed.
Favorite book when you were a child:
I absolutely loved Barbara Park and Denise Brunkus's Junie B. Jones series when I was a child. Now, I can't remember any of the stories, but I can still picture Junie's messy hair and big glasses.
Your top five authors:
Toni Morrison
Hala Alyan
Clint Smith
Michelle Zauner
Suzanne Collins
Book you've faked reading:
Probably something from high school but I have no idea what it was.
Book you're an evangelist for:
I'll Tell You When I'm Home by Hala Alyan! She's an incredible person and her writing is from another world. I'm in awe of the way she intertwines her worlds in one honest, heart-wrenching memoir. You must must must read.
Book you've bought for the cover:
Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha (among other reasons). The cover is beautiful and the content is amazing.
Book that changed your life:
My Mother Was a Freedom Fighter by Aja Monet.
Favorite line from a book:
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer," from Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Before and after reading that book, that line has stuck with me. It has been my phone background. This year, for me, is one that answers.
Five books you'll never part with:
No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay; I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy; Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. by Noor Hindi; The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; and, coming in September, The Pomegranate Is a Grenade.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist! I have tried reading it again recently, and I wasn't in the right headspace. But I think he tells such a marvelous story on journey. It impacted me so much the first time I read it, I wish I could go back to that experience.
Book you can't wait to see on the shelves:
The Pomegranate Is a Grenade by Maha Hashwi :)