Soundings extends the heartiest congratulations to Lena Khalaf Tuffaha (2017) for receiving the National Book Award in poetry for her collection Something About Living.

On Tuffaha’s book, the judges write, “Something About Living open with a single bird and ends in a dazzling meteor shower, and in between lies something of a marvel—an electric and sobering song crackling with possibilities for a homeland fractured and besieged by Empire. Lena Khalaf Tuffaha writes, ‘Love is paying attention,’ and this impressive collection serves as a powerful exemplar of devotion—brilliantly rendered in surprising forms—and profoundly teaches us ‘a million ways to love.’”