Sarah Aziza
Sarah Aziza | |
|---|---|
Aziza reading at the 2026 AWP Conference | |
| Occupation |
|
| Nationality | American |
| Notable works | The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders (2025) |
| Notable awards | Palestine Book Award (2025) United States Artists Fellow (2026) |
Sarah Aziza is a Palestinian American writer, translator, and journalist.[1] Her work has appeared in outlets including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker website, among others.[2] She is also a frequent contributor to The Nation.[3]
She is the author of the memoir The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders (Catapult, 2025). In 2025, The Hollow Half won the Memoire Award at the Palestine Book Awards;[4] in 2026, the book was named a finalist for the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards and the Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction.[5][6][7]
The Hollow Half
The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders was published by Catapult in 2025.
Reception
According to the review aggregator Book Marks, The Hollow Half received a "Rave" rating based on reviews from BookPage, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews.[8]
Mónica Teresa Ortiz of BookPage praised Aziza's "stunning" prose and wrote that the memoir moves effortlessly across geographies, timelines, and languages.[9] The book also received positive reviews in the Michigan Quarterly Review[10] and Publishers Weekly.[11] Library Journal gave the book a starred review.[12]
Awards and honors
- Memoire Award, Palestine Book Awards (2025), for The Hollow Half.[4]
- Finalist, Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ+ Nonfiction (2026), for The Hollow Half.[7]
- Finalist, Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (2026), for The Hollow Half.[5][6]
- United States Artists Fellow (Writing, 2026).[1]
Further reading
- Democracy Now! (April 29, 2025) — interview with Aziza about The Hollow Half.[13]
- The Nation — “Living With Fracture: A Conversation With Sarah Aziza”.[14]
- People — essay/excerpt by Aziza related to The Hollow Half.[15]
References
- ^ a b "Sarah Aziza". United States Artists. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "Sarah Aziza". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "Sarah Aziza". The Nation. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
- ^ a b "Palestine Book Awards 2025: Winners Announced in London Ceremony". Palestine Book Awards. November 15, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ a b "Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Announces 2026 Finalists". Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. March 3, 2026. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ a b "2026 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award finalists explore race through different lenses". WYSO. March 3, 2026. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ a b "Announcing the Finalists for the 38th Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. March 18, 2026. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
- ^ "Book Marks reviews of The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders". Book Marks. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders — Book Review". BookPage. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "Survival: A Review of The Hollow Half by Sarah Aziza". Michigan Quarterly Review. January 2026. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders". Library Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ ""The Hollow Half": Palestinian American Sarah Aziza on Gaza, Generational Trauma, Anorexia & Exile". Democracy Now!. April 29, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "Living With Fracture: A Conversation With Sarah Aziza". The Nation. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
- ^ "When I Started Writing About Anorexia, I Felt Erased. Now, I'm Telling the Whole Story On My Own Terms (Exclusive)". People. May 14, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2026.