Loading ...The First Palestinian Poet to Win a Pulitzer Prize
By: Rena Elhessen / Arab America Contributing Writer
A Palestinian writer has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize in a historical first. Mosab Abu Toha, 32, won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his essays in The New Yorker. An immigrant from Gaza currently residing in New York, Mosab’s essays gained attention based on their commentary on Gaza. Born in a refugee camp, Mosab’s work provides a first-person recollection of life in Gaza before the October 7 attacks. Living in Gaza during the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Mosab and his family were then given refuge in Syracuse, New York. His works explore feelings of diaspora and displacement amid the ongoing crisis in the region.
Palestinian Identity in Award Winning Publications
Mosab Abu Toha’s collection of essays details his life and escape from Gaza and the suffering of being a Palestinian refugee. These four essays among his columns were selected as Pulitzer Prize-winning works.
Requiem for a Refugee Camp
Among these essays is “Requiem for a Refugee Camp”, published in December 2024. In this work, Mosab discusses the diaspora he feels, being a refugee relocated from a refugee camp, and witnessing the razing of Jabalia refugee camp in Northern Gaza, the largest camp in the territory. It has housed Palestinians since 1948, when the United Nations first established the camp. This camp had significance to Mosab, having housed his grandparents and him having attended middle school there.
Unfortunately, this refugee camp no longer stands.
The Gaza We Leave Behind
Another essay selected as a Pulitzer Prize winner, “The Gaza We Leave Behind”, was published on the anniversary of the October 7th attacks. It holds nostalgia for a different time, containing memories of Mosab’s childhood. In his reminiscence of life in Gaza before the war, Mosab conveys feelings of displacement and longing. He also allows audiences insight into the prolonged violence before the October 7th attacks.
The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian
Pulling from personal experience, Mosab wrote his third award-winning essay in this collection, “The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian”. Mosab was residing in Gaza following the October 7 attacks and fled via Egypt with his wife and children. While fleeting, Mosab was unexplainably detained by IDF forces, causing international outcry.
He later experiences similar treatment from TSA agents when he arrives in the United States. When he is randomly selected for a security check, he is once again separated from his family. The discomfort he feels is shown throughout the essay, as he reflects on the non-welcoming feeling of seeking refuge.
My Family’s Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza
Also published in 2024, Mosab wrote “My Family’s Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza”. Highlighting the ongoing starvation crisis in Gaza, Mosab reflects on his feelings of guilt having sought refuge while his family remains in Gaza.
He recalls eating meals every day before the war, juxtaposing this with the struggle his family faces in trying to find food. He recounts first-hand the inhumane conditions of life in the Gaza Strip as the war continues.
About the Author
Mosab Abu Toha was born in the Al-Shati refugee camp and raised in Beit Lahia, North Gaza. At the age of 16, he was wounded in an airstrike that killed six others. He attended the Islamic University of Gaza, graduating in English. He then founded the Edward Said Library, which opened one branch in Beit Lahia and another in Gaza City.
In 2019-2020, Mosab came to the United States to become a Scholar-at-Risk Fellow at Harvard. He published his first book of poetry, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, where he reflects on his life in Gaza. This collection won both the American and Palestine Book Award. In 2023, Abu Toha graduated with his MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. Following his graduation, he returned home to Gaza. He has written for The Nation, Literary Hub, the New York Times, and The New Yorker from Gaza. After the October 7 attacks, Abu Toha fled Gaza in December 2023.
His family are currently refugees in Syracuse, New York. He remains at a visiting faculty position at Syracuse University through the Scholars at Risk network. He recently released a new poetry collection, “Forest of Noise”, which was named New York Times Notable Book.
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