Farrah Sarafa

Born to a Palestinian mother from Tulkarem, West Bank and a Chaldean father from Tel Keppe, Iraq, post colonialism, occupation and human rights inform her research and social justice activism.[3] Her notable academic research on North African-French diaspora- Re-writing Algerian Nationalism Through the Discourse of the Woman[4] was published by the University of California Santa Cruz Press in 2006. She spoke on “Growing up Iraqi in the United States”[5] at Boston College and won the Marjorie Rappaport[6] Hopwood award for her poem “Olive.” Her poems “Palestine Fig”,[7] first published in Arabesques, “Let the Land Choose”, “Warfire”, “The Dead Sea”, and “Blood, Sand, and Tears of a Young Boy” have been featured in various magazines,[8] anthologies and textbooks.[9] Inspired by Edward Said’s work on Orientalism, postcolonial studies and Comparative Literature, Sarafa worked under his tutelage[10] at Columbia University[11] to obtain a master’s degree in 2009. She is now Professor of Literature and Modern Languages[12] at Pace University.[13]

Sarafa was the recipient of a SLS Summer Writing Scholarship and Grant,[1] a second place Marjorie Rappaport Award,[14] and earned 2nd place in the Chistell[1] Writing Contest for “To my Brother” and received the Hopwood Award for her poem "Olive".[15] Her poems have appeared in publications including Ascent Aspirations Magazine, Avatar Review, Frigg Magazine, Litchfield Review, Cerebration, Foliate Oak, Diagram, Feile-Festa, mediterranean.nu, Tablet Review, and Voices in Wartime. Sarafa’s work as a writer and columnist for Blackbook, Arte Fuse, GreenandSave, the Village Voice, NYArt Beat,[16] Scallywag & Vagabond[17] culminated in her founding Fractyll Culture Magazine. Based on the notion that ‘culture is a fractal’, whose various spokes melodically amount to literature, travel, art, fashion, health, race and music, it underscores industry pioneers,[18] red carpet events and grassroots movements.[19]