Hosting at the House

A young woman wearing a lavender hijab and a yellow jacket, smiling outdoors with green trees in the background.
A woman with dark hair, wearing a white denim jacket over a black and white checkered dress, standing outdoors near a stone wall surrounded by green plants and flowers.

  • A passionate poet and writer, Salma was awarded one of the five National Student Poet Awards from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in 2019, and has been published in the 2020 Ghassan Kanafani Anthology. Her work is deeply influenced by her Palestinian-Egyptian American heritage, often addressing themes of Palestinian liberation, the Muslim-American diaspora, and personal life experiences. She was part of House of Amal’s pilot Writing Cohort in 2023.

    Writing has been a fundamental part of Salma’s life from a young age, serving both as an escape and a means to address life's challenges. She continues to leverage her creative and academic pursuits to contribute meaningfully to her community. Salma is currently pursuing a degree in Computer Science, reflecting a commitment to both the arts and technology, how they play a role together and finding the intersection between automation and creative autonomy.

Salma Mohammad

Sara Farhat

  • Sara Farhat is a Lebanese poet, educator and craft enthusiast residing in Tkarón:to. She draws inspiration from immersing herself in nature and has a deep appreciation for Arabic poetry, flowers, and trees. Sara enjoys using metaphors and uses her ability to create vivid imagery in her readers’ minds. Beyond writing, she enjoys reading, hiking, crocheting, soccer, and photography. 

A woman in a colorful patterned dress and a navy blue hijab sitting on a brown armchair outdoors with greenery in the background, smiling at the camera.
Woman in traditional embroidered dress and white headscarf sitting on a chair outdoors, holding a pen, with a small wooden table and a potted plant nearby.

  • Sara Bawany is an award-winning author, clinical social worker, and creative writing teacher based in Austin, TX. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Texas State University and previously graduated with her Master’s in Social Work from The University of Texas at Austin.

    Sara is the author of two poetry books: (w)holehearted: a collection of poetry and prose, which won Daybreak Press Publishing’s 2019 “Best Poetry Book” award, and Quarter Life Crisis. She curated and co-edited her first anthology with House of Amal, Threads of Palestine, with 100% of the proceeds going to charity. Sara was selected as a finalist for Austin’s first Poet Laureate program as well as in Button Poetry’s 2021 Annual Chapbook Contest and two of her poems have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. When not writing, teaching or editing, she manages her own mental health counseling practice.

Amal Kassir

  • Amal Kassir is a Syrian-American poet, born and raised in Denver, Colorado to an Arab father and an American mother. She has performed & taught in 13 countries and cities all over, in venues ranging from orphanages to refugee camps to youth prisons. She currently serves as the 2025-2027 Hillsborough Poet Laureate, and is the founder of House of Amal, a global writing community that sits at the intersection of introspection, faith, and literature. She is also the founder of the Mental Wellness Program for Muslim Youth for Positive Impact in Colorado, working to create access and dismantle stigma around mental health in the Muslim Community.

    At the University of Colorado Denver, she designed her own undergraduate major, titled Community Programming in Social Psychology, where she has been able to create programs for a range of causes and people. ​Her first book, Scud Missile Blues, came out in 2024 with 100% of proceeds going to Syrian children affected by war. She is currently a youth mentor, a writing teacher, a farmer and a mother.

Sara Bawany

Co-Hosts

Headshot of a man with dark, curly hair, a beard, and light skin, wearing a maroon shirt against a white background.
A woman in a dark blue jacket with a hood and scarf standing outdoors near a body of water, with trees and mountains in the background, smiling at the camera.

Walid Kessal

Co-Writing Lounge Intern

Farrah Hasan

Co-Writing Lounge Intern

A young woman wearing a black and white keffiyeh scarf smiling outdoors in a park with trees and a bird flying in the background.
A woman in a blue hijab and white floral dress standing on a marina dock with boats, with city buildings in the background.

Sundus Aladra

Generative Workshop Instructor

Tehreem Khalid

Writing Hour Instructor

Black-and-white portrait of a man wearing a beanie and a zipped jacket, looking directly at the camera.
Woman dressed in a black abaya and niqab standing outdoors in a park with green grass and trees, with people visible in the background.

Warren Clementson

Syeda Yahya

A woman wearing a maroon hijab and glasses, smiling against a plain light-colored wall.

Munazah Shakeel