Maya Abu Al-Hayat

Maya Abu Al-Hayyat is a Palestinian novelist, poet, storyteller, and translator, born in Beirut. She has published three novels and three collections of poetry. Her books have gained worldwide recognition, and some of her stories have been translated into different languages. Abu Al-Hayyat also worked as an actress and ran the Palestine Writing Workshop. Abu Al-Hayyat played a prominent role in children's literature, writing and presenting television programs for children, including "Iftah Ya Simsim," and was distinguished by her writing of children's stories.

Personal life Abu Al-Hayyat was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1980, but grew up in Jordan. Her mother is Lebanese and her father Palestinian. She was raised by her aunt. At some point, she joined her father in Tunis. In 2003, she received a degree in civil engineering from An-Najah National University in Nablus.

Abu Al-Hayyat moved between Amman, Jordan, and Tunis, Tunisia before settling in Jerusalem with her family. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and three children.

Career Abu Al-Hayyat's professional life began as a civil engineer. She also headed the Palestine Writing Association, which specializes in encouraging reading by organizing programs to teach creative writing and also produces stories for children and young adults. In addition, she managed the Palestine Writing Workshop. In 2013, she became the director of the Palestine Writing Workshop. Further, she has been writing for television programs for children, including Sesame Street (Arabic version, iftah ya simsim), and produced a set of stories, including "Masouda," "The Turtle" and "Kiki and Coco in the Clinic." She presented children's programs such as "Farhan and Friends" for many years on Palestine TV.

Some of Abu Al-Hayyat's stories and poems have been published in other languages, including a Swedish translation of "The Bedtime Story" in Swedish; and translations to English of: "The Blue Pool of Questions" (by Hanan Awad) and No One Knows their Blood Type (translated by Hazem Jamjoum, winning the 2025 Palestine Book Award (translation category), shortlisted for the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) First Translation Prize, and long listed for the ALTA National Translation Prize in Prose). Abu Al-Hayyat herself has also translated several novels from other languages into Arabic, including "Kolka" by Bengt Olson, "The Old Man Who Broke All Barriers" by Catherine Engelman, and "The Red Bird" by Astrid Lindgren.

Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Cordite Poetry Review, The Guardian, and Literary Hub. Further, she is the editor of The Book of Ramallah, a book of short stories published by Comma Press in its "Reading the City" Series.

Works

Novels (2004), “Habbat Min Al-Sukkar” (Beads of Sugar): Palestinian House of Poetry. Ramallah

Awards 2005 Young Creative Writer Award, Ministry of Culture