Arab In Newsland [first edition]

Arab In Newsland by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha is the winner of the Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize and was chosen by contest judge, January Gill O'Neil. Praise for Arab In Newsland: Whenever she turns on the 'never good news,' Lena Khalaf Tuffaha sees her relatives in Syria, Jordan, and Palestine in pain and turmoil. She sees beloved cities blasted to rubble. She knows that 'when darkness arrives the blue glow / of screens will bring you no warmth.' What does allow us refuge is her beating heart, her wide and generous intelligence. These poems take us deep into the inside story of devastation and despair. These poems make us more human. Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s brilliant poems are gifts of grace. -- Peggy Shumaker