Duaa Kamel

Duaa Kamel is a poet and writer from Palestine, whose work focuses on war, the patriarchy and gender inequality, and the struggle for survival. Kamel also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture Engineering from the Islamic University in Gaza.

Duaa started her literary career in 2012 through writing poetry and short stories and publishing them on social media. She went on to win third place in a literary competition organised by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture and some of her work was published in the print version of the literary Magazine 28. In 2015, Kamel entered her first poetry collection ‘From Thirst to Thirst’ in a literary competition and although she did not win, her book was listed in the honourable mentions. Duaa started her second book in 2018 but was unable to write as much as she would have liked to due to the difficult life conditions.

In 2019, Kamel participated in the Al Qattan Foundation’s art exhibition in Ramallah, Palestine, alongside 16 other young Palestinian artists. There, Duaa entered with an art project combining her poetry with photos documenting her daily life in Ramallah.

Due to threats and harassment, Kamel was forced to flee Gaza where the situation remained difficult. In 2021, Duaa took up an ICORN residency in Uddevalla, Sweden. Since then, she has continued to develop her literary and photographic career, and has participated in a variety of events, including the Gothenburg Bookfair and the MIK Conference at the University of Gothenburg.