Jessica Abughattas is an American poet. Her debut poetry collection, Strip, was the winner of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize and was published by University of Arkansas Press. [1]
Abughattas is of Palestinian heritage and was born and raised in California. She has a BFA in Journalism from Pepperdine University, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the student paper. [2] She received her MFA from Antioch University and is a member of RAWI (Radius of Arab American Writers). [3]
Her book was chosen for the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize by Hayan Charara and Fady Joudah, who said of her book: "Strip is a captivating debut about desire and dispossession, and that tireless poetic metaphor, the body. Audacious and clear-eyed, plainspoken and brassy, these are songs that break free from confinement." [4] Victoria Chang said, "Any subject Abughattas writes about becomes a conundrum in the most beautiful of ways, whether the poet is investigating politics, family, identity, or love." [5]