"Our grandmothers' tears of Tatreez live on through us. Tatreez will always hold hope, tears and sumud...our cultural inheritance. Their gift to us for the enduring. We are more than fierce grief...we are ancestral indigeneities in human form dreamed into being by our ancestors. We were formed by dreams, sand and stardust but we are shaped by love.
We are poetry. We are Palestine."
-- Micaela Kaibni Raen
Awards & Nominated Poetry
** Yalda Award Winner **
& Nominated for Best of the Net 2025
Qafiyah ReviewPoem: On the Night of Invasion 2024, Issue TwoLink to issue:Nominated Pushcart Prize 2025 Noor MagazinePoem: Piled Limestone 2024, Inaugural IssueDirect Link to Poem:
2024, Issue Two
Brief Publications List
In Print
Available for Purchase
Edited by: Susan Muaddi Darraj
Anthology, Palestine Writes Press 2024
Palestinian Writes Press Order Link
Heaven Looks Like Us: Palestinian Poetry
Edited by: George Abraham & Noor Hindi
Anthology, Haymarket Books 2025
Haymarket Pre-order Link
Anodyne Magazine
Germany, Volume Three Summer 2024
https://anodynemag.com/vol3/
Palestinian Writes Press Order Link
Heaven Looks Like Us: Palestinian Poetry
Edited by: George Abraham & Noor Hindi
Anthology, Haymarket Books 2025
Haymarket Pre-order Link
Anodyne Magazine
Germany, Volume Three Summer 2024
https://anodynemag.com/vol3/
EL GHOURABAA:A QUEER AND TRANS COLLECTION OF ODDITIES
Edited by: Samia Marshy and Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
Metonymy Press 2024
Edited by: Samia Marshy and Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch
Metonymy Press 2024
https://metonymypress.com/shop/books/el-ghourabaa-queer-trans-oddities/
Bombay Gin Literary Journal
Naropa University, Autumn 2024
https://www.naropa.edu/academics/jks/publications/bombay-ginCatalyst
Bombay Gin Literary Journal
Naropa University, Autumn 2024
https://www.naropa.edu/academics/jks/publications/bombay-ginCatalyst
Catalyst Literary Arts Journal
New Zealand, December 2024
https://catalystnz.blogspot.com/
Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art and Thought
Poetry, Visual Poetics, and Flash Nonfiction Included, Fall 2024
http://www.yellowmedicinereviewstore.com/
Magma
France, November 2024
https://magmapoetry.com/
Rabbit Poetry
Australia, Autumn 2024
https://rabbitpoetry.com/
Return to Roots: Writing Toward Land
The Dodge: A special teaching issue on Palestine and the Global Indigenous Struggle.
Visual Art with customized curriculum.
Print edition: May 2026
Resisting Authoritarian Issue
My work is on page 12 of the July 2025 issue.
https://radicalcatalystjournal.org/issue1_1.html
Poem: Genocide
Poem: Atrocious
Artwork: Tatreez Armor Breast Plate
@theolivetreeeditorial
Australia, Autumn 2024
https://rabbitpoetry.com/
Art & PoetryAvailable Online Now
Return to Roots: Writing Toward Land
The Dodge: A special teaching issue on Palestine and the Global Indigenous Struggle.
Visual Art with customized curriculum.
Print edition: May 2026
Online edition is available now at https://thedodgemag.com/return-to-roots/rafah-queer-tatreez/
Radical Catalyst JournalResisting Authoritarian Issue
My work is on page 12 of the July 2025 issue.
https://radicalcatalystjournal.org/issue1_1.html
Tendrils Literary Journal
A print publication as well as a highly competitive and curated online journal, has published visual poetics that questions...what happens to us when we can no longer hear the whispers of the poppies? The artwork in the poem is vividly stunning and references trauma, tears, and sumud.
Link to my work in the issue:
https://www.tendrilsjournal.com/issue1-trauma-and-the-body#whispers
Ultramarine Literary ReviewMy artwork in a beautiful Chilean magazine. Title: “Last Flight Home.” The artwork speaks to the global loss of life in Queer/Trans communities. Most of us surviving without basic human rights.
https://www.ultramarinereview.com/art-and-photography?pgid=m49781cs-29f9a094-8cc5-4693-a4c4-4b56e2409945
Chapter House Indigenous Literary Journal
Visual Poetics
https://chjournal.com/micaela-raen
Koukash Review2023, Issue Two
https://www.koukash.com/issue2/woodcutters-and-waiters
Rowayat Literary Journal
2023, Issue Seven
https://rowayat.org/accept-the-moon/
Global Genocides & Health CatastrophesWith violent genocides and forced starvation affecting so many communities, we are called to witness and to take action.
HALA Collective Blog 2025 - No "Happy in Pride" for 2025
https://www.thehalacollective.com/blog/time-of-enduring-a-letter-to-my-hala-collective
HALA Collective Blog 2024 "A Time of Enduring"
https://www.thehalacollective.com/blog/time-of-enduring-a-letter-to-my-hala-collective
The Olive Tree - Soon to be re-released as a zine. The Olive Tree: An international collection of art protesting the ongoing genocide of Palestinians is now available online. Proud to be a part of this beautiful collection of creative work. It will break your heart and give you hope. It is a deeply spiritual search for justice and a sacred honoring of the Palestinian people through art and literature. Thank you students for your activism. #studentintifada
Poem: GenocideA print publication as well as a highly competitive and curated online journal, has published visual poetics that questions...what happens to us when we can no longer hear the whispers of the poppies? The artwork in the poem is vividly stunning and references trauma, tears, and sumud.
Link to my work in the issue:
https://www.tendrilsjournal.com/issue1-trauma-and-the-body#whispers
https://www.ultramarinereview.com/art-and-photography?pgid=m49781cs-29f9a094-8cc5-4693-a4c4-4b56e2409945
Visual Poetics
https://chjournal.com/micaela-raen
Koukash Review
2023, Issue Two
https://www.koukash.com/issue2/woodcutters-and-waiters
Rowayat Literary Journal
2023, Issue Seven
https://rowayat.org/accept-the-moon/
https://www.koukash.com/issue2/woodcutters-and-waiters
Rowayat Literary Journal
2023, Issue Seven
https://rowayat.org/accept-the-moon/
Global Genocides & Health Catastrophes
With violent genocides and forced starvation affecting so many communities, we are called to witness and to take action. https://www.thehalacollective.com/blog/time-of-enduring-a-letter-to-my-hala-collective
https://www.thehalacollective.com/blog/time-of-enduring-a-letter-to-my-hala-collective
Poem: Atrocious
Artwork: Tatreez Armor Breast Plate
@theolivetreeeditorial
Writers Resist
Artwork "Death Equals Silence" and Artist Statement
2024, Issue Three
https://www.writersresist.com/2024/06/19/death-equals-silence/
Artwork "Death Equals Silence" and Artist Statement
2024, Issue Three
https://www.writersresist.com/2024/06/19/death-equals-silence/
Performances Available Online
Ask the Night for a Dream: Palestinian Writing from the DiasporaPalestinian Museum U.S., February 16, 2025Link the to Event - Available to watch now on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y8K0x6HPaA&list=PLhervyCf8iV5PetlP0A5Dl7315-pmm7PV&index=2Poetry Reading and Presentation
SWANA Regional Radio - Podcast on SpotifyOriginally aired on KPFK Los Angeles, NPR on January 7, 2023
“Who Remembers?”: Armenian-Palestinian Solidarities: A Reading on YouTubePoetry Reading and Presentation on December 10, 2023
More vids are available on my YouTube channel:
Coming Soon
Pending
The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology25th Anniversary EditionInterlink PublishingPoetryPending 2026
Homosexual IntifadaVisual PoeticsPending May 2026
Olive Tree Editorial ZinePoetry and Visual ArtPending 2026
Sinister Wisdom (Issue)SWANA Dykes Issue - Cover ArtPending 2027
Sinister Wisdom (Trade Book)SWANA Dykes Issue - Cover ArtPending 2027
Act UP! Beyond New York (Anthology) Pending 2027
More exciting announcements coming soon!
Ask the Night for a Dream: Palestinian Writing from the Diaspora
Palestinian Museum U.S., February 16, 2025
Link the to Event - Available to watch now on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y8K0x6HPaA&list=PLhervyCf8iV5PetlP0A5Dl7315-pmm7PV&index=2Poetry Reading and Presentation
SWANA Regional Radio - Podcast on Spotify
Originally aired on KPFK Los Angeles, NPR on January 7, 2023
“Who Remembers?”: Armenian-Palestinian Solidarities: A Reading on YouTube
More vids are available on my YouTube channel:
Coming Soon
Pending
The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology
25th Anniversary Edition
Interlink Publishing
Poetry
Pending 2026
Homosexual Intifada
Visual Poetics
Pending May 2026
Olive Tree Editorial Zine
Poetry and Visual Art
Pending 2026
Sinister Wisdom (Issue)
SWANA Dykes Issue - Cover Art
Pending 2027
Sinister Wisdom (Trade Book)
SWANA Dykes Issue - Cover Art
Pending 2027
Act UP! Beyond New York
(Anthology) Pending 2027
More exciting announcements coming soon!
Micaela Kaibni Raen is a queer Palestinian American femme-dyke mother from the Little Arabia community in California. For over 40 years. she has advocated for Palestinians, Indigenous and displaced peoples, women, queer/trans youth in foster care, and those affected by HIV/AIDS. Recognized by the Lesbian Herstory Archives, she shares deep connections with the Radius of Arab American Writers, Inc., the National Organization for Women, ACT UP!, and Queer Nation. She is the creator of Queer Tatreez, a style of visual art and poetics inspired by Indigenous Palestinian embroidery. A Tin House Alum, her work is featured in Bint el Nas; Mizna; Yellow Medicine Review; Sinister Wisdom; The Poetry of Arab Women; Ask the Night for a Dream; Heaven Looks Like Us; Homosexual Intifada; and Protea Gallery.
Socials:
Web Site: https://micaelakaibniraen.blogspot.com/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/micaelakaibniraen
IG: @micaelakaibniraen
Past Publications (Brief List)
Anthologies:
- A Kiss is Just a Kiss, Tall Grass Writers Guild, Baker & Taylor Publishing, Summer 2001
- A Different Path: An Anthology of the Radius of Arab American Writers, Ed. D. H. Melhem & Leila Diab, Ridgeway Press, 2000
- The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology, Ed. Nathalie Handal, Interlink Publishing, 2000
- Yellow Medicine Review,, “The Ancestors We Were Looking for We Have Become: International Queer Indigenous Voices,” edited by Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán, Fall 2010
- Mizna Literary Journal, 2014
- Tagg Magazine, Features Author and Contributor, 2013 – 2015
- 2000-2003: Bint el Nas; Ahbab Magazine, Chronogram: The Hudson Valley Arts Magazine


