The University of Arkansas Press is pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of How to Make an Algorithm in the Microwave by Maya Salameh, winner of the 2022 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize.
The confluence of the divine and digital are at the heart of Salameh’s collection. In a layering of prayer, memory, and code, Salameh brings technological concepts into conversation with the daily machinations of womanhood, whether liner, lipstick, or blood. She explores the intimate relationships we have with our devices, speaking back to an algorithm that serves as both watcher and watching, data thief and surrogate confidant. Experimenting with photo and form to create an intimate collage of personal and neocolonial history, these poems explore how an Arab girl survives the digitization of her body.
Maya Salameh is a Syrian American and Lebanese American poet from San Diego, California. A 2016 National Student Poet, she has performed her writing at venues including the Obama White House, Carnegie Hall, and her parents’ kitchen. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Asian American Writer’s Workshop, and The Brooklyn Review, among others. She served in 2020 as the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Markaz Resource Center at Stanford University, and is cochair for the Institute for Diversity in the Arts.
Every year the University of Arkansas Press accepts submissions for the Etel Adnan Poetry Series and awards the $1,000 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize to a first or second book of poetry, in English, by a writer of Arab heritage. Since its inception in 2015 the series has sought to celebrate and foster the writings and writers that make up the vibrant and diverse Arab American community, and the University of Arkansas Press has long been committed to publishing diverse kinds of poetry by a diversity of poets. The series editors are Hayan Charara and Fady Joudah, and the prize is named in honor of the world-renowned poet, novelist, essayist, and artist Etel Adnan. Past winners of the prize include Jess Rizkallah, Peter Twal, Zaina Alsous, Jessica Abughattas, and Danielle Badra.
How to Make an Algorithm in the Microwave will be published in October 2022.