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Mona Kareem

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Mona Kareem
منى كريم
Alma materAmerican University of Kuwait
Binghamton University
Occupation(s)Writer, translator, and literary scholar
EmployerWashington University in St. Louis

Mona Kareem (Arabic: منى كريم; born 1987) is an Arab-American writer, translator, and literary scholar, as well as an advocate for migrant rights.[1][2][3][4] Born in Kuwait to a stateless, or Bedoon, family, the theme of statelessness is prevalent in her literary work.[5][6][3]

Education and career

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Due to Kareem's stateless legal status, she could not attend a public university. Her academic history and poetic prowess earned her a scholarship from a charitable family in Kuwait. Kareem studied at the American University of Kuwait.[5]

Kareem received a scholarship from Binghamton University in 2011. She moved to the US and obtained a doctoral degree in Comparative Literature. Her thesis, entitled "Good Mothers, Bad Sisters: Arab Women Writers in the Nation,” explored subalternity in the Arab literary scene.[5][7] [8]

Kareem worked as a lecturer at Binghamton University and at the University of Maryland and held fellowships from Poetry International, Arab American National Museum, BANFF Centre, National Centre for Writing, etc. She served as translator-in-residence at Princeton University,[5][9][10] and currently serves as assistant professor in the Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies department at Washington University in St. Louis.[11]

As a literary scholar, Kareem's research interests range from Arabic poetry and prose, contemporary feminist fiction, and literary translation strategies to subaltern subjectivities.[8]

Having faced discrimination as a Bedoon, Kareem established Bedoon Rights, an online reference dedicated to raising awareness on the prejudice and struggles the stateless face in Kuwait.[12][3][6]

Mona Kareem was denied entry to Kuwait at Kuwait International Airport when she flew there to see her family in 2023. Kareem told the Associated Press that Kuwaiti authorities informed her that she risked imprisonment if she remained in the country. She had previously been questioned about Bedoon-related activism and pledged not to have political discussions.[13]

Works

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Poetry

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Kareem's poetry is characterized by the use of simple language and vivid imagery. It is frequently arranged in short lines. Themes often deal with feminism and identity, especially as a migrant,[14][15] and push beyond liberal feminist and colonial frameworks to examine structural violence of the nation-state.[16]

At 14 years old, Kareem published her first poetry collection, Arabic: نهارات مغسولة بماء العطش, romanized: Naharaat maghsūla bi Ma-e el ’atash, lit. 'Mornings Washed by Thirst's Water'. Two years later, she released her second anthology Arabic: غياب بأصابعي مبذورة, romanized: Ghiyab bi asabi’ mabthūra, lit. 'Absence with Amputated Fingers'. Kareem published Ma anamū min adjlihi el yaum in 2016. In 2019, she released trilingual poetry collection Femme Ghosts. Her books have been translated to nine languages.[5][15][17]

Translation

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Kareem translated the novel Kindred by Octavia Butler and some poems of Alejandra Pizarnik into Arabic. She translated Instructions Within by Ashraf Fayadh (2017) into English; it was nominated for Best Translated Book Award.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Qualey, Lynx (19 February 2020). "Beyond Jokha al-Harthi: Women Writers from the Gulf – Literature". British Council Literature. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  2. ^ Batty, David (20 November 2015). "Saudi court sentences poet to death for renouncing Islam". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Caspani, Maria (18 September 2014). "Stateless in New York: A Woman's Life as a 'Legal Ghost'". Newsweek. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  4. ^ Karunakan, Binu. "Why Malayalam fiction is being translated into Arabic – Times of India". The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e Elgayar, Aisha (9 September 2020). "A Stateless Poet Finds Her Home and Identity in Literature". Al-Fanar Media. Al-Fanar Media. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  6. ^ a b Ubaid, Mir. "Shadows of themselves: Portraits of statelessness". www.aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera Media Network. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  7. ^ "The Feminist Novel is on the Rise in the Arab Gulf: An Interview with Mona Kareem". TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Forum Transregionale Studien: Mona Kareem". Forum Transregionale Studien. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  9. ^ Valenti, Denise. "Jhumpa Lahiri champions the writerly art of translation". Princeton University. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Kareem named as Translator in Residence for fall 2020 semester | PIIRS". PIIRS. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Six faculty members to join Arts & Sciences under Race and Ethnicity Cluster Hire Initiative". Office of Graduate Studies. 2023-03-07. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  12. ^ "Without Citizenship: Statelessness, Discrimination, and Repression in Kuwait". Open Society Justice Initiative. Open Society Foundations. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  13. ^ Gambrell, Jon (3 January 2023). "US-based Bidoon poet, activist says Kuwait deporting her". AP News.
  14. ^ "Friday Finds: 13 Poems by Mona Kareem". ArabLit Quarterly. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Mona Kareem (poet) – Kuwait – Poetry International". Poetry International Archives. Poetry International Rotterdam. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  16. ^ Al-Alawi, Hanan (2023). "A Spectral Archive: Mona Kareem's Feminist Imaginary in Ināth al-Ashbāḥ (Femme Ghosts)". Feminist Formations. 35 (3): 102–129. ISSN 2151-7371.
  17. ^ "Immigrant Writing in a Time of Crisis: A Conversation with Mona Kareem, Grace Talusan, Deepak Unnikrishnan, and Ilan Stavans". brookline booksmith. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  18. ^ "To Translate Octavia Butler: Race, History, and Sci-Fi | PIIRS". PIIRS. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
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