Ibtisam Barakat (Arabic: ابتسام بركات) is a Palestinian-American bilingual author, poet, artist, translator, and educator. She was born in Beit Hanina-East Jerusalem. Barakat received her bachelor's degree from Bir Zeit University, near Ramallah in the West Bank. In 1986, she moved to New York City, where she interned with The Nation magazine. She went on to earn a master's degree in journalism and another master's degree in human development and family studies from the University of Missouri.[citation needed]

Ibtisam Barakat
Ibtisam Barakat at the festival of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature 2013
Ibtisam Barakat at the festival of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature 2013
Born (1963-10-02) October 2, 1963 (age 61)
East Jerusalem
OccupationAuthor, Poet, Artist, Translator, Educator
NationalityPalestinian American

Bibliography

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What a Song Can Do: 12 Riffs on the Power of Music (2004)

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Barakat contributed to this anthology that "explores the powerful impact that music has in our lives."[1] The anthology was published June 8, 2004 by Knopf Books for Young Readers. Other contributors include Jennifer Armstrong, Ron Koertge, Joseph Bruchac, David Levithan, Jude Mandell, J. Alison James, and Sarah Ellis.[citation needed]

Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood (2007)

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Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood was published February 20, 2007 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

The memoir is about growing up under Israeli occupation following the 1967 Six-Day War and the persistence and resistance of the Palestinian struggle for liberation.[2]

Tasting the Sky received the following accolades:

Free?: Stories About Human Rights (2010)

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Barakat contributed to this anthology that explores the concept of freedom. Free? was published April 27, 2020 by Candlewick.[7] Other contributors include David Almond, Margaret Mahy, Meja Mwangi, Jamila Gavin, Eoin Colfer, Michael Morpurgo, Theresa Breslin, and Sarah Mussi.[citation needed]

Al Ta' Al Marbouta Tateer (2011)

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Al Ta' Al Marbouta Tateer, التاء المربوطة تطير, translated as The Letter Ta Escapes or The Taa' That Flies, is about a letter in the Arabic alphabet that refuses to do what it is supposed to do in a word.[citation needed]

The book won the Anna Lindh Foundation award for Best Literature for Arabic children.[8]

Hadeyyah Lel-Hamzah (2014)

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Hadeyyah Lel-Hamzah, هدية للهمزة, translated as A Present for the Letter Hamzah, which Barakat wrote and illustrated, was published by The National Library of the United Arab Emirates - Abu Dhabi.[citation needed]

Balcony on the Moon (2016)

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Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine was published October 15, 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In 2017, the book was nominated for the Arab American Book Award for Children's/Young Adult Literature.[9]

The book also received the following accolades:[10]

The Jar that Became a Galaxy (2019)

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The Jar that Became a Galaxy الجرة التي صارت مجرة was published by Tamer Institute in Ramallah, Palestine, and illustrated by Walid Taher.[11] The book gave the national reading campaign in Palestine its title.[citation needed]

The Lilac Girl

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The Lilac Girl, published by Tamer Institute, won the prestigious Sheikh Zayed Book Award.[12]


Books

Tasting The Sky (2007)

Savoring the sky (2010)

Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine (2016)

Two Homes in Omar's Heart - Spanish (2022)[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "What a Song Can Do: 12 Riffs on the Power of Music". Goodreads. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  2. ^ Priyadarshini, Arya; Sigroha, Suman (2020-07-03). "Recovering the Palestinian History of Dispossession through Graphics in Leila Abdelrazaq's Baddawi". Eikón / Imago. 9: 395–418. doi:10.5209/eiko.73329. ISSN 2254-8718.
  3. ^ "Tasting the Sky". Goodreads. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  4. ^ "IRA Children's and Young Adults' Book Awards". reading.org. Archived from the original on 2013-08-04.
  5. ^ "2008 Book Award Winners". arabamericanmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-10-19. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  6. ^ "Middle East Council Book Award Winner page". Archived from the original on 2006-09-18. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  7. ^ "Free?: Stories About Human Rights". Goodreads. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  8. ^ Winners of the Arab Children’s Literature Award announced Archived 2017-09-11 at the Wayback Machine, 17/01/2011, Anna Lindh Foundation
  9. ^ "2017 Arab American Book Award Winners". Arab American Museum. 7 October 2017.
  10. ^ Barakat, Ibtisam (2016-10-25). Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR). ISBN 978-0-374-30253-5.
  11. ^ "The Jar that Became a Galaxy". Tamer Inst. Retrieved 2021-04-23.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Here are the winners of the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards, one of the Arab world's major literary prizes". Literary Hub. 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
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