Mohja Kahf (born 1967, Damascus, Syria) is an Arab-American poet and author.
Kahf moved to the United States in 1971. Her family has been involved in Syrian opposition politics, a theme reflected in the life of her character Khadra of The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf.
She received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from Rutgers University and is currently an associate professor of comparative literature and faculty member of the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Kahf's work explores themes of cultural dissonance and overlap between Muslim-American and other communities, both religious and secular. Islam, morality, modesty, gender and gender-relations, sexuality, politics, and especially identity are important aspects of her work.
Her first book of poetry, E-mails From Scheherazad, was a finalist for the 2004 Paterson Poetry Prize.
E-mails from Scheherazad
The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf 2006, Carroll & Graf
Western Representations of the Muslim Woman: From Termagant to Odalisque