Lena Khalaf Tuffaha is a poet, essayist, and translator. She is the author of three books of poetry: "Something About Living" (UAkron, 2024), winner of the 2024 National Book Award and winner of the 2022 Akron Prize for Poetry; "Kaan & Her Sisters" (Trio House Press, 2023), finalist for the 2024 Firecracker Award and honorable mention for the 2024 Arab American Book Award; and "Water & Salt" (Red Hen, 2017), winner of the 2018 Washington State Book Award and honorable mention for the 2018 Arab American Award. Her writing has appeared in journals including Los Angeles Review of Books, Michigan Quarterly Revie, the Nation, Poets.org, Protean, Prairie Schooner, and many others. Tuffaha’s work has also been anthologized widely, including in The Long Devotion (Georgia Press), We Call to the Eye and the Night (Persea Press), and Gaza Unsilenced (Just World Books). She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington and an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University’s Rainier Writing Workshop. Tuffaha lives with her family in Redmond, Washington.