Latifa Ayad is a Libyan-American writer based in Columbus, Ohio. She is a MacDowell Fellow and her novel-in-progress The Realm Unknown was a runner-up for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship.

Her piece “Arabic Lesson” is featured in Best American Non-Required Reading 2019. Buy it here or at your local bookstore. For a complete list of her published work, see Publications.

Ayad is a Florida native, and is tired of “Florida Man” jokes. She earned her BA and MFA at Florida State University. Ayad looks back on her time spent in Tallahassee fondly, now that she has moved away.

Latifa Ayad is represented by Erin Harris at Folio Lit.