My work explores the tensions of living between worlds. I write plays that unravel the tangled web of family dynamics shaped by two homelands, the clash between cultural expectations and individual identity, the generational impact of diaspora, the promise and aftermath of revolution, and the cycles of loss, grief, and reconciliation. At the heart of my work is the belief that healing can happen in a single moment.

I grew up in a Muslim household as the first-born American in my family. Raised by a single mother, I witnessed firsthand the need to belong despite differences, the cost of defining one’s identity, and the necessity of secrecy in a culture not your own. My mother struggled to find the resources, network, and cultural fluidity she needed. Her accent, her sobriety, her faith—each marked her as an outsider. I became acutely aware of the isolation that comes from not being wholly American and the impossible choice to conceal, defy, or change. Because Arabic was not spoken in our home and family was not near, I grew up disconnected from both language and lineage. This estrangement is at the heart of my work and where I find the potential for joy, beauty, and creativity.

My ultimate goal is to illuminate our shared humanity beyond the confinements of culture or identity, beyond right and wrong, and to make space for the radical act of healing—a transformation that so often begins when someone chooses love.

As a playwright, I want to expand the theatrical canon with more work by and for Middle Eastern communities, stories that move beyond the expected tropes of terror, victimhood, and caricature and instead explore the humor, joy, struggles, and everyday complexity of navigating two cultures at once.