Zahra Marwan is an American artist and writer. Her work mainly focuses on her early life as a stateless person in Kuwait and an immigrant in New Mexico. She has won various international awards and fellowships.[1] Her debut book received critical acclaim.
Early life
Marwan was born in Kuwait to a stateless Shia family from the Ajam ethnic group.[2][3][4][5] In the 1950s, her family name was lost in translation during census registration.[6] Her mother has Kuwaiti citizenship. Her father was born stateless despite having Kuwaiti family members.[7][8][9] She immigrated to New Mexico as a child and eventually became an American citizen at the age of 16.[10] She graduated from Rio Rancho High School.[10] She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Mexico in Languages and Literature, with a minor in Flamenco Dance and History as well as a minor in Philosophy.[11] She also studied the visual arts in France.[12][13][14][1]
She was honored with an award by the UN Human Rights Commission for creating art that brings visibility to statelessness, indigenous groups, and minority rights.[11]
Works
Author and illustrator
Where Butterflies Fill the Sky, 2022
The Sunflowers, 2024
Fishermans New Year, 2025
Sakina and the Uninvited Guests, 2025
Soft Sea Rain and Spirits, 2025
Illustrator
The Goldfish written by Katherine Arden, 2024
My Sister the Apple Tree written by Jamal Saeed and Jordan Scott, 2025
Haniya's Ramadan Garden written by Zeshan Akhter, 2025
^Zahra Marwan (24 June 2020). "Circumstantially Free". Lost in translation between Levant Arabs in the Gulf who registered Iranian families in the 1950s, our family name was Arabisized to Marwan, which is typically Lebanese or Syrian, and a very Sunni name. It makes me feel even more stigmatized in Kuwait. It feels so far from my family history, in a place where people often earn respect, class, mobility, and social status from family kin.
