Something About Living

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Something About Living
"Something About Living" by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha book cover.webp
Author Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
Publisher University of Akron Press
Publication date
April 2, 2024
Pages81
Awards Akron Poetry Prize
ISBN 978-1629222738
Preceded byKaan and Her Sisters 

Something About Living is a 2024 poetry collection by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. [1] Among other things, the book concerns the history of Palestine and the experiences of the Palestinian diaspora. It was published by University of Akron Press for the Akron Series in Poetry after Adrian Matejka selected Tuffaha's manuscript for the 2022 Akron Poetry Prize. [2] It won the 2024 National Book Award for Poetry [3] and was shortlisted for the 2025 PEN Heaney Prize. [4]

Contents

Content

The book involves "Tuffaha’s own Palestinian heritage, the often-erased humanity of the Palestinian people, and themes of love, violence, family and home." [5]

Background

In TriQuarterly , Tuffaha stated that the book's poems were written while she was finished with the manuscript for Kaan and Her Sisters and subsequently circulating it for publication. She considered Something About Living to be an "explicitly Palestinian American book" whereas Kaan and Her Sisters was "more Arab and Arabic."

Some of the book's poems initially appeared in Tahoma Literary Review, The Nation , Mizna . [6] The book's title is a reference to June Jordan, and the book includes Tuffaha's 2022 The Nation poem, "Letter to June Jordan in September". [7] [8] A launch event for the book was hosted at the Palestinian Film Festival in September of 2024. [9]

Critical reception

Publishers Weekly called the book "brilliant" and said "This superb volume sings of those determined to fight for a fairer future." [10]

Electric Literature listed the book in a recommendation list titled "7 Poetry Collections that Transform the Personal Into Portals". [11] George Abraham, who featured some of the book's poems in the Mizna magazine, called them "incredible". [8]

It was selected by the American Library Association as a Notable Book in 2025. [12]

References

  1. ↑ Tuffaha, Lena Khalaf (April 2, 2024). Something About Living. University of Akron Press. ISBN   978-1629222738.
  2. ↑ "2022 Akron Poetry Prize Winner". The University of Akron, Ohio. September 30, 2022. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  3. ↑ "Redmond's Lena Khalaf Tuffaha wins National Book Award for poetry". The Seattle Times. 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  4. ↑ Spanoudi, Melina (2025-10-23). "Six titles shortlisted for PEN Heaney Prize 2025". The Bookseller . Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  5. ↑ Neilson, Sarah (2024-09-27). "Redmond writer longlisted for a National Book Award". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  6. ↑ "Kaan Ya Makaan: Once Upon a Place and Time". Tahoma Literary Review. 2024-08-17. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  7. ↑ Tuffaha, Lena Khalaf (2022-01-11). "Letter to June Jordan in September". The Nation . ISSN   0027-8378 . Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  8. 1 2 Abraham, George. "Language Is Also A Place: An Interview with Lena Khalaf Tuffaha". TriQuarterly. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  9. ↑ "Toronto Palestine Film Festival to be held in person and online from Sept 25". Images. 2024-09-14. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  10. ↑ "Something About Living by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
  11. ↑ Ali, Sarah Ghazal (2024-04-10). "7 Poetry Collections that Transform the Personal Into Portals". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  12. ↑ Notable Books List American Library Association.2025.
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