Yahya Ashour
شاعر غزّي
يحيى عاشور
Gazan Poet
Yahya Ashour | يحيى عاشور is an exiled Gazan poet and awarded author, born on April 22, 1998, based in the US. He is an honorary fellow at the University of Iowa and the author of the e-book “A Gaza of Siege & Genocide” (Mizna, 2024). Ashour's portfolio also includes poetry collections, children's books in Arabic, and contributions to global anthologies and journals, including MQR and ArabLit. He has received multiple scholarships and fellowships and has read poetry at over 50 U.S. organizations and universities, including Princeton, Stanford, UPenn, and UCLA. His poetry has been translated into several languages, including Spanish, French, Japanese, and Bengali. Ashour studied Sociology and psychology and worked as a creative writing mentor.
Photo taken June 2023 in Gaza by Yousef Dawas, who was murdered during the genocide, and Yahya is standing in front of Rashad Al-Shawwa Cultural Center in Gaza which also got destroyed recently.
Performances & Interviews
Journal Editors | Anthology Editors | Book Publishers | Writing Residencies | MFA Programs | Writing Contests | Poetry Translators | College Professors | Cultural Organizers | Visual & Performing Artists
Ways you can help Gaza:
Learn \ Read \ Watch \ Listen
Share \ Post \ Interact \ Block
Educate \ Organize
Support \ Donate \ Fundraise
Boycott \ Review
Demand \ Vote \ Call \ Email
Protest \ Strike \ Disrupt \ Wear
Learn more about Yahya:
(click on the underlined words in any section to view external links)
Books
2025, نص نصيص وأبو علي a children's book, Tamer Institute, Ramallah, Arabic
2024, A Gaza of Siege & Genocide, excerpts of poetry, Mizna, St. Paul, English
2021, لهذا ريان يمشي هكذا, a children's book, Tamer Institute, Ramallah, Arabic
2018, أنت نافذة هم غيوم, a poetry collection, Tamer Institute, Ramallah, Arabic
Translations
He's been translated into 10 languages:
English
Spanish
French
Italian
Portuguese
Japanese
Finnish
Norwegian
Bengali
Malayalam
(See the Journals and Anthologies section)
He also translated from English to Arabic:
٢. كاتب من العالم: مع فيفك نارايانان
٣. كاتب من العالم: مع أليش شتيغر
Journals
The US | أمريكا
Mizna
Michigan Quarterly Review
The International Writing Program
The UK | بريطانيا
فلسطين | Palestine
Lebanon | لبنان
المكسيك | Mexico
Chile | تشيلي
Germany | ألمانيا
Italy | إيطاليا
Finland | فنلندا
Japan | اليابان
Bangladesh | بنغلادش
India | الهند
Anthologies
2025, Heaven Looks Like Us, poetry anthology, Haymarket, Chicago, English
2024, Ask The Night For A Dream, poetry anthology, Palestine Writes Press, Philadelphia, English
2022, أنطولوجيا الشعر الفلسطيني الراهن, poetry anthology, Almutawassit Books, Milano, Arabic
2022, La Poésie Palestinienne D'aujourd'hui, poetry anthology, Editions Points, Paris, French
2021, Coronaphone كورنافون article collection, 28 Magazine & Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, Arabic & English
2020, Novell Gaza no. III, story collection, Novell Gaza, Stockholm, English
2013, كتابي الأول 2012, story collection, Tamer Institute, Ramallah, Arabic
2011, لذة البرتقال, text collection, Tamer Institute, Ramallah, Arabic
Residencies
• He's an honorary fellow at the University of Iowa, USA, and a 2022 fall resident of the International Writing Program held there.
• He was selected in 2023 for a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France.
• He was a resident in 2024 at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, USA
• He has a fellowship with Mizna, an American journal based in St. Paul, USA.
Awards
• His children's book won the Arab Children's Books Publishers Forum award in 2022.
The book was also shortlisted by the iBBY chapter in Palestine for the iBBY International Honor List 2022-2024.
- He also won several local writing contests like Novell Gaza and My First Book.
• He was the youngest poet to be featured in the anthology of Palestinian Poetry Today which featured poets born between the 1970s and the 1990s, edited and translated by the renowned French-Moroccan poet Abdellatif Laabi.
Readings (Universities)
Princeton University, (read twice, also gave a lecture) Fall 2023
Stanford University, Spring 2024
University of Pennsylvania, Fall 2023
Northwestern University, (also gave a lecture) Spring 2024
Columbia University, Spring 2024
Cornell University, Spring 2024
University of Chicago, Spring 2024
University of California - Berkeley, (read twice) Spring 2024
University of California - Los Angeles, (also gave a workshop) Spring 2024
Vanderbilt University, Spring 2023
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, (read twice) Fall 2023, Spring 2024
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Spring 2024
University of Wisconsin - Madison, Spring 2024
Tufts University, (also gave a workshop) Spring 2024
Ohio State University, Spring 2024
Wake Forest University, (also gave 3 lectures) Fall 2023
University of Minnesota, (also gave one lecture) Spring 2023
Michigan State University, (read twice, also gave a lecture) Fall 2022, Fall 2023
George Washington University, Spring 2024
Syracuse University, Spring 2024
University of Pittsburgh, Spring 2024
Indiana University - Bloomington, Spring 2024
University of Illinois - Chicago, Spring 2024
Fordham University, Spring 2024
University of Iowa, (read 5 times, also gave 2 lectures) Fall 2022, Spring 2024
University of Oregon, (also gave a lecture) Spring 2024
American University, Spring 2024
University of Arizona, Spring 2024
San Francisco State University, Spring 2024
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Spring 2024
University of Michigan - Dearborn, (also gave a lecture & a workshop) Spring 2024
John Carroll University, Fall 2022
Tiffin University, Fall 2022
Readings (Organizations)
Mizna in Minnesota,
Arab American National Museum in Dearborn
Palestine Writes Festival in Philadelphia,
La La Lil Jidar in Philadelphia
Battery Dance in New York City,
Interlochen Center for the Arts, Michigan
Liberation Collective in Florida,
Palestine Youth Movement in Dearborn,
Project Peace,
Islamic Center of East Lansing,
Elmahba Center
East High School in Wisconsin,
Fostoria High School in Ohio,
Blake High School in Minnesota.
Media
Life
His grandparents were refugees who were forced out of Bier Al-Sabaa in 1948 and ended up in Gaza.
He lost his father Mahmoud Darwish Ashour to cancer on July 20th, 2019.
He survived 6 zionist israeli 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 zionist israeli 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 9 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 Gaza and has been surviving under severe circumstances since the beginning of the genocide.
Education
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, he earned his high school diploma from a public school.
Work
Senior Animator
at Nawa Association - Middle Area
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
Scholarships
Courses
The Arab Culture Association - Online
poetry writing course with Najwan Darwish.
Robert McKee Story Seminar - Online
Freelance Academy
at Gaza Sky Geeks - Online