2026 Neustadt Laureate
Ibrahim Nasrallah, winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (2026) and the Arabic Booker Prize (2018), was born in 1954 in a refugee camp in Amman, Jordan, to Palestinian parents who had been displaced in 1948. A poet, novelist, painter, and photographer, Nasrallah’s creative journey has spanned various disciplines. To date, Nasrallah has published sixteen poetry collections, twenty-six novels, an autobiography, and two books of film criticism. In 1985 he began writing The Palestinian Tragicomedy, a series of novels covering 250 years of Palestinian history. Each book in this series stands alone, yet they collectively form a deep, rich portrait of the Palestinian experience. Sixteen novels have been released as part of this project, many of which have garnered prestigious literary awards in the Arab world. His books have been translated into more than fifty languages.
Mohammad Almasri is ConocoPhillips Associate Professor of Arabic Language, Literature and Culture at the University of Oklahoma, with a joint appointment in the Department of International and Area Studies and the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. Dr. Almasri received his PhD in linguistics from the University of Kansas and did his undergraduate work at the Yarmouk University in Jordan. He currently teaches courses in advanced Arabic and topics in contemporary Arab culture.
Amit R. Baishya is associate professor of English at the University of Oklahoma. He teaches courses on postcolonial literature and environmental humanities. His most recent project, Attunement to Others: Multispecies Cohabitation in the Anthropocene, is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. He also translates short stories and novels from Assamese to English.
Phil Bildner is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books for young people including the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor–winning middle-grade novel A High Five for Glenn Burke, the Margaret Wise Brown Prize–winning Marvelous Cornelius, and the critically acclaimed Rip and Red series. His latest release is the picture book biography Glenn Burke, Game Changer.
Joshua Landis is Sandra Mackey Chair and co-director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. His book Syria at Independence: Nationalism, Leadership, and Failure of Republicanism was published in 2020. He publishes frequently in policy journals and writes and manages SyriaComment.com, a newsletter on Syrian politics. He has received three Fulbright grants to support his research in Syria and won numerous prizes for his teaching.
Cynthia Levinson writes nonfiction books for young readers from four-year-olds through teenagers and beyond. Focusing largely on social justice, her books have received multiple starred reviews and won numerous honors, including the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal as well as the Jane Addams, the Carter G. Woodson, the Julia Ward Howe, and the Crystal Kite Awards. Writing often about complex topics, she is especially pleased that the American Library Association named her recent book Who Owns the Moon? And Other Conundrums of Exploring and Using Space a Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Cynthia and her husband, Sanford Levinson, who is her occasional co-author, divide their time between Austin and Boston.
Kyle Lukoff is the author of many books for young readers. His debut middle-grade novel, Too Bright to See, received a Newbery honor, the Stonewall award, and was a National Book Award finalist. His picture book When Aidan Became a Brother also won the Stonewall, and his book Call Me Max has been banned in schools across the country. He has forthcoming books about language, unicycles, breakups, and lots of other topics. While becoming a writer, he worked as a bookseller for ten years, and then nine more years as a school librarian.
Waleed F. Mahdi is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, where he co-directs the Center for Middle East Studies. He is a scholar of US-Arab cultural politics, with expertise in cultural representation and identity politics. He is currently working on two book projects, “Seeing Yemen: Imperial Security and Yemeni Visual Narratives of Resistance” and co-editing “Arab American Studies: A Field in Motion.”
Shereen Malherbe is a British Palestinian writer and English literature graduate whose work spans novels, an award-winning children’s book series, and contributions to literary and educational platforms. With a focus on history, identity, and cultural intersections, her writing often explores the complexities of the human experience across the Middle East and diasporic communities. Shereen’s personal connection to this history is highlighted in her appearance in the BBC documentary The Holy Land and Us, offering a deeply personal perspective to her storytelling. Her most recent novel is Yassini Girls.
Daniel Nayeri was born in Iran and spent some years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age seven with his family. He is the author of several books, including Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story), winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, the Christopher Medal, and the Middle Eastern Book Award; The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams, winner of the Newbery Honor; and The Teacher of Nomad Land, winner of the Newbery Honor and the National Book Award. He lives in the US with his wife and son.
Bao Phi is a Vietnamese American refugee, a Minnesotan, spoken-word artist, poet, children’s book author, and single co-parent father. He has two poetry collections, Song I Sing and Thousand Star Hotel, and has authored four picture books, including A Different Pond, which received a Caldecott Honor and the Charlotte Zolotow Award for Outstanding Writing in a Picture Book in 2018, and the upcoming bilingual picture book Ride. He was on the editorial team of the AANHPI poetry anthology We the Gathered Heat. His work is anthologized in collections such as A Good Time for the Truth, Octavia’s Brood, and a special 2025 issue of McSweeney’s.
Kavita Ramchandran is a graphic designer and self-taught illustrator. She has art-directed the award-winning children’s literary magazine Kahani, designed textbooks for Scholastic, McGraw Hill, Harcourt, and Curriculum Associates, illustrated award-winning apps for kids, and created the animated shorts Maya the Indian Princess and Happy Holi Maya! for Nick Jr.’s “My World” series. Her first picture book, Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps, by Srividhya Venkat (Yali Books), won the South Asia Book Award in 2022. She grew up in India but is now based in New York City.
Nancy Roberts is a freelance Arabic-to-English translator and editor. Her most recent literary translations are The Slave Yards, by Najwa Bin Shatwan (2020); The Night Will Have Its Say, by Ibrahim al-Koni (2022); and They Fell Like Stars from the Sky & Other Stories, by Sheikha Helawy (2023). She contributed three translations to WLT’s “Gaza Voices” issue, named a finalist for a National Magazine Award.
Hannah V. Sawyerr was recognized as the Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016. Her sophomore novel in verse, Truth Is, was a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award and the 2026 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her debut novel in verse, All the Fighting Parts, was a finalist for the William C. Morris Debut Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honoree, and a Kirkus Best Book of the year. Her spoken word has been featured on the BBC’s World Have Your Say program as well as the National Education Association’s “Do You Hear Us?” campaign. Her written word has been included in Essence, xoNecole, and gal-dem.
Lola M. Schaefer is the author of more than 290 books for children. Her awards include the Children’s Choice Book Award; Outstanding Science Trade Book; Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book; and Zena Sutherland Picture Book Award. When Lola is not at home researching her next book or writing, you might find her working with writers or students.
Samer S. Shehata is the Colin Mackey and Patricia Molina de Mackey Associate Professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma. His areas of research include Middle Eastern politics, Egyptian politics, Islamist politics, U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, elections, authoritarianism, and democratization. He is the author of Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt (2010), and editor of Islamist Politics in the Middle East: Movements and Change (2012) and The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century (2023).
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian American children’s author who currently lives in Columbus, Ohio. Whether creating award-winning documentary films or connecting readers to books through her work at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Elisa has always surrounded herself with stories. Her book Mallory in Full Color won the Lambda Literary Award for Middle Grade in 2025. Elisa believes stories are the most powerful tool we have to create a more just and empathetic world.
