About

photo by MENA Creators Club

Randa Jarrar is the author of the memoir Love Is An Ex-Country, the novel A Map of Home, and the collection of stories Him, Me, Muhammad Ali. She is a filmmaker and actor who has appeared in independent films and on the A24 TV shows Ramy and #1 Happy Family USA. She is a recipient of a Creative Capital Award, an American Book Award, and others. She lives in Los Angeles.

Here is a fun timeline for your pleasure:

1978: I am born to an Egyptian Mama and a Palestinian Baba in Chicago. We move to Kuwait two months later.
1982: I begin school early and my journey of nerddom and doing-things-too-soon begins.
1990: Iraq invades Kuwait and I move to Alexandria, Egypt.
1991: My dad gets a job in NYC and I move to White Plains, NY
1992: I move to Old Greenwich, CT, which is so white it scars me for life.
1994: I enroll at Sarah Lawrence College at the age of 16 – see under 1982. I come out as queer.
1996: I give birth to my son at age 18 because- see under 1982.
1998: My son and I move to Austin, TX.
2000: I receive an MA in Middle Eastern Studies.
2000: I begin a novel.
2001: We move to a trailer in Kyle, TX (pop. 5,000 at the time) & I begin novel again. 9/11 happens. I decide no one will read a novel about an Arab-American Muslim girl. I decide yes they fucking will. I keep writing.
2003: I finish draft of novel.
2004: I begin revising novel. I continue to raise my kiddo solo.
2006: I sell novel.
2006: I move to Ann Arbor to attend University of Michigan’s MFA program. My son begins playing bass.
2007: Novel wins Hopwood Award
2008: I receive my MFA in fiction. Novel is released to huge acclaim and gets picked up in 6 countries.
2009: I begin a second book. My son begins playing guitar. He is dizzyingly good.
2010: I move to CA to become a professor.
2011:  I begin to publish more essays and creative nonfiction. I go to Istanbul for 5 weeks and write at a residency.
2012: I begin a collection of stories. I go to Italy and stay in a castle on a fellowship. My son hates that I do this.
2013: I try to visit Palestine and am denied entry.
2015: I sell my collection of stories to a publisher. I go to Marfa TX and stay at the Lannan foundation and begin a memoir. My son no longer hates me. He’s a musician and living in San Francisco and working as a gondolier on Lake Merritt.
2016: My collection is published to critical acclaim and I win some awards. My son moves home and now I’m the one who hates him. I drive cross country to New York and back for memoir research and also because I can’t deal with my kid’s goat smell.
2017: I work hard on my memoir.
2018: I finish and sell my memoir. I also become the target of racist white nationalists who send me 800 death threats and call me a camel cunt, which I wish I could call my memoir. I move to Los Angeles. I become a stereotype and start doing standup.
2019: I get to do standup with Sammy Obeid, one of my heroes, and keep working on my art.

2020 I appear in three projects: RAMY on Hulu, GOT GAME, a short film by Fatimah Asghar, and FINJAN, a short film by Rolla Selbak.

2021: Love Is an Ex-Country, my memoir, is released. I begin writing and developing a feature film.

2022: I release a short film, YES, GODDESS, which I direct, write, and act in.

2023: Israhell and the USA begin a new stage of genocide in Palestine. I am not sure how anyone can get out of bed. I begin, with my friend Ariana, HIBR, an international tattoo fundraiser with 100% of proceeds to mutual aid in Gaza.

2024: You Are a Teen Mom, an essay I am developing as a full-length memoir, is out on Everand as an Ebook and Audiobook.

2025: #1 Happy Family USA is released. I play grandma/Teta.

Timeline will continue as drama accrues…

Order Love Is An Ex-Country here.

Order Him, Me, Muhammad Ali, here

Find A Map of Home at your local bookstore or on Amazon, Powells, or B&Noble.