"M is For Maskoon" by Dania Ayah Alkhouli

Dania Ayah Alkhouli (a.k.a. Lady Narrator) is a Syrian Pushcart Prize nominated writer, poet, editor, and author of three poetry & prose collections-the latest, Contortionist Tongue from Moon Tide Press. Her work centers on survivorship, feminism, domestic violence & sexual assault, death & grief, religion & culture, and her homeland, Syria. Alkhouli has been performing her poetry for 16 years, with her very first performance at Two Idiots Peddling Poetry in 2008. She holds a B.A. in Sociology, an M.A. in Public Policy and Administration, and recently completed her M.B.A. When she’s not writing, Alkhouli manages a private investments portfolio, while also serving as the Creative Director and Co-founder of @acountrycalledsyria, a nonprofit traveling museum exhibiting Syria’s history and culture through digital and physical arts.