Haddad is an award-winning, politically engaged poet and theatre maker from Bahrain. His collections include Good Omen and Qassim’s Grave. He created the Arabic poetry website jehat and has collaborated with artists, photographers and musicians, including Marcel Khalifé.

Jordanian poet Aburisha is also a short-story writer and a trenchant feminist literary critic. Her poetry collections include All Consuming Love and The Notebook of Scent.