Whenever Maya leads our discussions, she always gives us good leading questions and explains things in detail. Her feedback is amazing, and she goes above and beyond to plan and make sure every class is fun and engaging!
Maya created a classroom environment where I felt safe and motivated to grow as a writer and thinker. She is such an inclusive, empathetic, and fun instructor who provides thoughtful, honest feedback.
Book me to...
Perform
I’ve performed my work at the Obama White House, Carnegie Hall, and for three First Ladies.
Teach
I’ve taught poetry-writing workshops for Open Mouth Literary Center, Stanford’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts, and over a dozen California middle and elementary schools. Past workshop topics include: Ritual as Origin; Collaborating with Spirit; and Climate Apocalypse Poetry.
Read about my Ritual as Origin workshop with Open Mouth
Speak
I am a poet-scholar-archivist. My debut collection, How to Make An Algorithm in the Microwave, braids academic scholarship with archival practice to explore the impacts of surveillance on Arab American communities. I am informed in this work not only by my writing, but by my academic and research careers. I’ve presented on a wide range of topics, most notably:
Arab American Mental Health
As part of my master’s thesis at Stanford, I designed and conducted my own study on Arab Americans’ mental health definitions and therapy experiences, leading four academic presentations on my work. This talk will unpack the existing literature on Arab American communities’ experiences in and needs for mental health care, examining care experiences from a contextualized, intersectional lens. I'll discuss socially bounded coping, community support structures, and the cultural anatomy of symptoms.
The Hidden Curriculum of Poetry:
Publishing, Promotion and Grant WritingI entered poetry with no formal training or inherited connections to the art world. I had to teach myself the ins and outs of finding my poems homes, book publishing and marketing, and establishing a community of writers. I hope to share some of my learnings so that the prospect of developing a poetry career feels like less of an impossibility.