Marwa Helal

Born in the Nile Delta of Egypt, Marwa Helal has been in the U.S. since 1983. She spent her youth on the Great Lakes, mainly Lakes Erie and Michigan tagging along with her dad, a limnologist—someone who studies bodies of freshwater. Helal’s first book, “Invasive species” (Nightboat Books, 2019), draws on this upbringing while exploring the bureaucratic failings of the modern immigration system and the Arab American experience. Teaching is a large part of Helal’s practice. It’s where she finds both community and encouragement. She is working on her third book of poems, “Deer feenix” (Nightboat Books, 2027) the follow up to “Ante body” (Nightboat Books, 2022).

• Invasive species
• Ante body
• the poem is a dream telling you its time