Hala Alyan is a novelist, poet, and clinical psychologist whose work explores memory, displacement, belonging, and the complexities of identity. She is the author of the novels Salt Houses, winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Arab American Book Award and a finalist for the Chautauqua Prize, and The Arsonists’ City, a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize. Through her fiction, Alyan often traces the emotional landscapes of diaspora and family, examining how history, migration, and inheritance shape the lives of individuals and communities.

In addition to her novels, Alyan is the author of five critically acclaimed poetry collections, including The Twenty-Ninth Year and The Moon That Turns You Back. Her poetry is known for its lyrical exploration of longing, place, and the body, often weaving together personal and political histories. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian, Guernica, and through The Academy of American Poets.

Alongside her literary work, Alyan is a clinical psychologist whose professional interests include trauma, addiction, and the intersections of storytelling and healing. Her debut memoir, I’ll Tell You When I’m Home, published by Simon and Schuster, reflects on family, migration, and the emotional terrain of return. She lives in Brooklyn with her family and teaches as a professor at New York University, where she continues to explore the relationship between psychology, narrative, and the human search for home.