Author Archives: kshehadeh

A couple of months ago, ArabLit Quarterly put out a call for Letters exploring Grief, exploring what curator Abdelrahman ElGendy explains “not as a final act or resolution, but an opening.” When I read the call, I took a moment to sit with my thoughts and feelings about the ongoing 76+ year genocide in Palestine and what it means to be as an American, writing from the center of empire. “Sonnet for Sidra from America” is a tip-of-the-iceberg-result of this grief and I’m so honored to be included in this deeply thoughtful, meditative Spring 2025 Issue.

I know–I almost couldn’t believe it either! At the Witness release party last week a few of the other contributors mentioned how they have been trying and getting rejected from Witness for years, and wow solidarity. Definitely was in the same boat and could barely believe my eyes when I saw the acceptance email! I have always admired Witness for publishing the kinds of writing that feels really important and so very right now. This is all me saying that I am so deeply honored to have my poem published in their latest issue, focusing on Heat–especially at the end of the world (or whatever this is).

My poem, “Make-a-Wish” is something that I first drafted in the poet Dorothy Chan’s Honey Literary sonnet workshop. I hadn’t really written a sonnet before, which I think like most poets who are still really focused on learning craft are more tuning the tools of free verse. I thought her approach to a modern sonnet made it really exciting and I am happy to say that I have written many since. Major shoutout and thanks and general awe and and all the best things to Dr. Chan–and of course the Editors and team at Witness! Oh and support them by purchasing a copy here.

Late update (is there a theme here?), but I am so proud to share that Yellow Arrow nominated my poem “My son wants to know what happened before the universe &” for the Best of the Net Anthology 2025 from Sundress Publications. Read my poem here and congratulations to all nominees!

A fully-prose-poem issue, DMQ Review’s Fall 2024 Issue has poems from so many poets that I greatly admire (hero status), and I am so honored to have a poem appearing on screens, pages, devices (?) alongside them!

“Stuck Inside” is a piece that is so dear to me because it is one of my first explorations into prose poetry and was written during one of Jose Hernandez Diaz’s prose poetry workshops (which I highly recommend). This poem was inspired by James Tate’s “Bounden Duty”, which struck me as the poetic embodiment of paranoia. I started thinking about ways to fully capture other psychological states and, writing this poem on an airplane, anxiety naturally bullied its way to the front.

You can read “Stuck Inside” and all of the Fall 2024 Issue of DMQ Review here.

On a lighter, or perhaps subtly sweet, note my thoughts on iced green tea appear in the Fall 2024 issue of Monterey Poetry Review, highlighting food and memory and food.

(for reference I’m drinking the Costco brand)

Luna Husam Abu Nada: “Luna, the youngest and most cherished member of the family, was smart, mischievous, and brought joy to our home with her laughter and playfulness. She made everything beautiful around her.” – Martyrs of Gaza

Published in the Fall 2023 Issue of Caustic Frolic (the journal of the NYU Graduate School of Experimental Humanities & Social Engagement), “The Last Abduction” is a short story that reflects on the experiences of an alien & a young boy, coming to terms with hyper-militarization in the West Bank.

Read the full story here. CW: depictions/allusions to graphic violence/death.

One interesting thing about the inspiration of this story, the artist Ampydoo (Alan Michael Parker) put out a call for drawings of aliens, and I drew one up on my iPad (above). Then I naturally started thinking about this alien (as one does) and the backstory to his life. I also happened to need to write a short story for my summer 2023 term fiction writing workshop (at UCF). Thankfully, my car needed service and there were no loaners available. “The Last Abduction” was borne from a mix of being trapped in the car dealership with way too much gratis coffee and Lotus biscuits (so good!). Given the subject-nature, I am so thankful that the editors and team at Caustic Frolic saw something special and chose to stand behind this story, particularly at this time when the efforts to silence voices in the Palestinian liberation movement are particularly strong.

Published in Cordite Poetry Review’s pop culture issue, “In case I say no to someone at the reveal of Love is Blind” reflects on expectations, results, sounds & how weird it was to see young Sean Connery for the first time. Read it here!

This was a fun one to write. Picture it: You’re sitting at a picnic table in a forest of creaky pine trees. Your kids are playing “baseball” with a stick in the yard between “leaf parties” and you’re working on a poem for your poetry workshop. Not sure where it is going or how to wrap up the last stanza, your spouse (who’s working on a speech) walks out and says the most random thing that miraculously pulls the whole thing together. Sometimes it really is just like that.

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Maybe I should have posted my Mother’s Day coloring sheet in advance of Mother’s Day like The Daily Drunk did here, but like I said I love updating my website for the year in one sitting. This is so great! Biggest blast!

Thankfully, my son was able to access it online, print it out, color, frame and so graciously surprise-gift it to me for Mother’s Day this year. Kids are the best!