She lives in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, and is General Director of the Women and Family Affairs Center. She has been a magazine editor and a public relations officer at Bir Zeit University, and remains an active researcher, scriptwriter, and producer of educational television programs. She received her B.A. in English and American Literature at Bir Zeit University and her Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Iowa. She has won a number of prizes, including the Alberto Moravia Prize, the Cervantes Award Prize, and the Naguib Mahfouz Prize.