Sara Abou Rashed
Sara Abou Rashed is a poet, storyteller, and public speaker. A Palestinian in origin, she was born in Syria but calls Ohio home since 2013. Her works appear in the anthology A Land With A People, Poetry Magazine, Poetry Wales, The Kenyon Review, Arab Literature Quarterly, as well as the latest High School English curriculum from McGraw Hill, among others. Sara has delivered a TEDx Talk and keynoted many national conferences such as Senator Sherrod Brown’s Women’s Leadership Conference and the United State of Women Galvanize. In 2018, she created a one-woman show narrating her family’s immigration journey titled, A Map of Myself, which she has performed over 15 times across the US. With a BA from Denison University and an MFA from the University of Michigan, where her manuscript recently won the Hopwood Graduate Award, Sara is currently working on her first book and speaking across the country.
Always with a pen and paper in-hand, Sara is changing the world one poem at a time, with her powerful voice and colorful style!
Sara takes after her grandmother when it comes to stories. Since the age of 6, she has written poetry in Arabic, then when she moved with her family to the US at the age of 13 not knowing any English, she taught herself the language and started once again writing, this time, in English. At 17, Sara delivered a TEDx Talk and has since keynoted many national conferences, including the National Convention of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the AFS Cultural Exchange Programs convention. Her personal story of displacement and resilience inspires all who meet her.
Sara is an accomplished author, who’s works appear in the anthology A Land With A People, Poetry Magazine, Poetry Wales, The Kenyon Review, Arab Literature Quarterly, as well as the latest High School English curriculum from McGraw Hill, among others. Sara’s manuscript won the Hopwood Graduate Award and she is currently working on her first book and speaking across the country.
With over 20 performances throughout the country, A Map of Myself is a one-woman performance that combines acting, classic storytelling, and dynamic spoken-word poetry. Sara recounts her journey to Ohio from Syria and discusses her fascination with “belonging” and what it means to find home.
A Map of Myself is Sara’s way of exploring the outer world of displacement and her inner reflections on identity, as she offers a humane understanding of the immigrant experience.
Spoken Word, Poet, Storyteller
I wanted to be supported by and in community with fellow Muslim women who are also using their voices for good and becoming role models for young muslims everywhere. It’s very important for me as a speaker not only to be appreciated but to be understood and have my background recognized and well-considered. UPROAR is unique in providing exactly that.
Being empowered to speak up, to speak loud, proud, being unafraid to make noise and using my voice so it may echo for good causes in the world.
