Note: Shunnarah is pronounced shuh-nahr-ruh and the Arabic transliteration of Mandy Shunnarah is ماندي شونارة

Professional bios:

Full bio:

Mandy Shunnarah (they/them) is an Alabama-born, Appalachian and Palestinian-American writer who now calls Columbus, Ohio, home. Their first book, Midwest Shreds: Skating Through America’s Heartland, was published by the Belt imprint of Arcadia Publishing in July 2024, and their second book, a poetry collection titled We Had Mansions, is forthcoming from Diode Editions in April 2025.

Their essays, poetry, short stories, and book reviews have been published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Black Warrior Review, AGNI, Porter House Review, Palette Poetry, Protean, The Offing, Crab Creek Review, Arc Poetry, Phoebe Journal, Beestung Journal, Channel Magazine, Exposition Review, HOAX Magazine, Sunlight Press, Apogee Journal, New Orleans Review, Orca Literary, Entropy Magazine, The Normal School, Mizna, The Other Side of Hope, The Citron Review, Mud Season Review, Ohio State’s The Journal, Yellow Arrow Journal, Justice For All Journal, Lumiere Review, Snarl Journal, The Wild Hunt, Barely South Review, Heavy Feather Review, The Forge, The Missing Slate, PANK Magazine, Deep South Magazine, Zoetic Press/Nonbinary Review, Southern Women’s Review, Talking Writing, Lifelines Magazine, Doubleback Review, and others.

Additionally, Mandy has been published in several anthologies, including The Columbus Anthology from Belt Publishing, Through the Aftermath: A Post-Apocalyptic Anthology, The Bad Day Book, two Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and the academic text Gifted-ish: Women and Nonbinary Writers on Intelligence, Identity and Education. Their work is forthcoming in the Heaven Looks Like Us Palestinian poetry anthology from Haymarket Books and Ask the Night for a Dream: Palestinian Writing from the Diaspora, an anthology from Palestine Writes Press.

They have received two Best of the Net nominations for their creative nonfiction, two Best of the Net nominations for their poetry, a Pushcart Prize nomination for their fiction, as well as having placed in short story contests. Mandy’s poem “our people had mansions” won the Porter House Review 2024 Editor’s Prize in poetry, chosen by Kaveh Akbar, and their poem “ode to cows & clitorises” was a finalist for the 2024 Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize, chosen by Kelli Russell Agodon. They have received grants from the Ohio Arts Council, The Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA).

Mandy has been writing professionally for the past decade, which includes freelance pieces for Reckon, YourTango, Business Insider, them.us, Cosmo, Bi.org, Saving Places/The National Trust for Historic Preservation, TransLash, Pride Source, The Humanist, Arts Midwest, Happify Daily, Roller Rag, The Buckeye Flame, Time Out, The Institute for Palestine Studies, The Order of the Good Death, Science for the People, 68to05, Fifty Grande, The Public, Left Voice, The Huffington Post, and Vinyl Me, Please, and the alumni magazines at The University of Alabama and Kenyon College, plus copywriting for businesses and nonprofits in addition to their creative writing. They started out doing freelance journalism for The North Jefferson News, Weld for Birmingham, and Birmingham magazine and continue to support local journalism by freelancing for their neighborhood paper, The Clintonville Spotlight, as well as The Worthington Spotlight, Matter News, Experience Columbus, Columbus Monthly, and Columbus Weddings.

Mandy has spoken on dozens of stages doing storytelling events across Ohio, Alabama, and Kentucky, to crowds of 10 to 250. They’ve recorded a radio segment for Dirty Spoon and have taught zine-making workshops for several libraries, as well as Sarabande’s Zine Lunch. Additionally, they’ve led workshops on how to write a book proposal, how to find literary magazines to submit to, how journalism can aid your creative writing, literary sportswriting, and more for the University of Alabama, See Jane Write, Lit Youngstown, and more.

Learn more at mandyshunnarah.com.

Short bio:

Mandy Shunnarah (they/them) is an Alabama-born, Appalachian and Palestinian-American writer who now calls Columbus, Ohio, home. Their essays, poetry, and short stories have been published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, and others. Their first book, Midwest Shreds: Skating Through America’s Heartland, was published in July 2024 by Belt Publishing. Their second book, a poetry collection titled We Had Mansions, is forthcoming from Diode Editions in April 2025. Read more at mandyshunnarah.com.

Journalism/Freelance-focused bio:

Mandy Shunnarah is an Alabama-born writer who now calls Columbus, Ohio, home. They have been writing professionally for the past decade, starting with freelance journalism for the North Jefferson News and Weld for Birmingham. Mandy has written freelance pieces for The New York Times, Saving Places/The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Reckon, YourTango, Business Insider, them.us, Left Voice, The Public, The Huffington Post, The Buckeye Flame, and Vinyl Me, Please, among others, in addition to their creative writing. They currently write for their neighborhood newspaper, The Clintonville Spotlight, and several city-wide publications, including Experience Columbus, Matter News, Columbus Monthly, and Columbus Weddings. You can learn more about all their writing endeavors at mandyshunnarah.com.

Storytelling-focused bio:

Mandy Shunnarah is a veteran storyteller who has entertained audiences on dozens of stages across Ohio, Alabama, and Kentucky, to crowds of 10 to 250. Their stories will make you laugh, cry, and sometimes both at the same time. See for yourself at mandyshunnarah.com.

view resume

Identities: Palestinian, Appalachian, nonbinary, bisexual/pansexual/queer, polyamorous, atheist, working-class

Professional photos:

Please credit photographers Kateri Ang and Gabe Rosenberg if used. Click here for downloads.

Topics I can speak about …

About my work specifically

Midwest Shreds: Skating Through America’s Heartland, my book from Belt Publishing
Roller skating at skateparks
The writing process
Redneck Palestinian, the memoir I’m currently writing and seeking literary agent representation for
How to turn a layoff into a level-up
Being an Arab-American/Middle Eastern-American/Palestinian-American writer
Writing about family with whom you have a strained relationship, or no relationship
The influence Waffle House hashbrowns has had on my writing
How having a book blog and bookstagram has helped me grow a readership
Carving out space for writing/Time management for writers
How I read 150+ books a year
Running a freelance writing business without becoming creatively burned out
How running an online vintage shop helps my writing

General topics

Freelance writing, including journalism and copywriting
Freelance editing, including short stories and essays as well as full-length book manuscripts
Pitching your work to publications
Book blogging how to’s
How to write compelling book reviews
How to get paid for your creative writing
Cats
Roller skating, including skating at skateparks
Being a Southern ex-pat
Bisexuality and pansexuality