Website is currently under development.
Embedded Files
Bio:
Photo by: Yousef Dawas (June 2023), a few months before the photographer was murdered. In the background, Rashad Al-Shawwa Cultural Center, located in Gaza City, which was also bombed early 2024.
Yahya Ashour | يحيى عاشور (April 22nd, 1998) is an exiled Gaz.an poet and an award-winning author. He is currently a visiting assistant professor of creative writing at Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges. He was a 2022 honorary fellow in writing at the University of Iowa, a 2025 author-in-residence at UCLA, and the recipient of the 2026 Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship at UCR.
He’s the author of the e-book A Ga za of Siege & Genocide, published by Mizna in 2024. His portfolio also includes three children's and young adult books in Arabic, as well as contributions to local and international anthologies and journals, original and translated, including Ploughshares Journal and Poem-A-Day.
His poetry manuscript Gazing received an honorable mention from the Emerging Writer Fellowship and is longlisted for the 2026 Terry J. Cox Award. His children’s book, Why Ryan Walks This Way, won the 2022 Arab Forum Award for Children’s Books Publishers and was featured on two honor lists by the International Board on Books for Young People (iBBY).
He has headlined over 100 readings and events at U.S. organizations and universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and the AWP Conference. His poetry has been translated into more than 10 languages, including Spanish and Bengali.
He’s the author of the e-book A Ga za of Siege & Genocide, published by Mizna in 2024. His portfolio also includes three children's and young adult books in Arabic, as well as contributions to local and international anthologies and journals, original and translated, including Ploughshares Journal and Poem-A-Day.
His poetry manuscript Gazing received an honorable mention from the Emerging Writer Fellowship and is longlisted for the 2026 Terry J. Cox Award. His children’s book, Why Ryan Walks This Way, won the 2022 Arab Forum Award for Children’s Books Publishers and was featured on two honor lists by the International Board on Books for Young People (iBBY).
He has headlined over 100 readings and events at U.S. organizations and universities, including Harvard, Stanford, and the AWP Conference. His poetry has been translated into more than 10 languages, including Spanish and Bengali.
Background
Background
His grandparents were refugees who were forced out of Bier Al-Sabaa in 1948 and ended up in Ga.za.
He lost his father, Mahmoud Darwish Ashour, to cancer on July 20th, 2019.
He was born with a rare condition of cerebral palsy, which caused him to walk with a limp. He was later diagnosed with acute trauma disorder.
His name, Yahya, means "to live" or "long live" in Arabic, and it's also the Arabic name for John in the Bible.
He survived 6 israhelli military aggressions on Gaza, in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2022, and May of 2023, and lived through 17 years of siege on Gaza.
During the israhelli genocidal war on Gaza, both his family’s house of 5 floors and his family’s business were destroyed, and he lost 3 cousins and 15 (to update) friends.
His family of 20 (his mother, his 5 siblings, and their spouses and their 10 children) was forced to flee to the south of Ga.za and has been surviving under severe circumstances since the beginning of the genocide. 4 more children were born during the genocide. Later, two brothers with their spouses and children were able to leave Gaz.a for Europe.
Education
Education
He is currently an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) student at the University of California, Riverside.
He earned a BA in Sociology/Psychology in 2020 from Al-Azhar University - Gaza.
He was also an exchange student at Fostoria High School in Ohio, USA in 2014-15, during his junior year, sponsored by the KL-YES program & Youth For Understanding USA.
He attended UNRWA schools until 9th grade, and he earned his high school diploma from a public school.
Courses:
The Arab Culture Association - Online
poetry writing course with Najwan Darwish.
Robert McKee Story Seminar - Online
Freelance Academy
at Gaza Sky Geeks - Online
Google Professional Certificate in Project Management - Online
Work
Work
Full-time:
Adjunct Assistant Professor at Pitzer College - California
Adjunct Assistant Professor at UCLA - California
Senior Animator at Nawa Association - Middle Area
Part-time:
Creative Writing Mentor at Qattan Foundation - Gaza
Field Coordinator & Mobilizer at REFORM Association - Gaza
Hub Coordinator at Theater Days Productions - Gaza
Creative Writing Mentor at Tamer Institute - Gaza & North Gaza
News Literacy Mentor at American Councils (USA) - Online
Testing Assistant at AMIDEAST - Gaza
English Teacher at British International School - Gaza
Freelance:
He also translated from English to Arabic:
٢. كاتب من العالم: مع فيفك نارايانان
٣. كاتب من العالم: مع أليش شتيغر
Community Service:
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse