Batool Abu Akleen

Batool Abu Akleen is a Palestinian poet and translator from Gaza City. At the age of fifteen, 2020, she won the Barjeel Poetry Prize for her poem ‘I didn’t steal the cloud.’ Abu Akleen’s poetry has been translated into several languages and featured in numerous international publications. Her poem ‘Gunpowder’ was awarded third place in the 2025 London Magazine poetry prize. She was Modern Poetry in Translation’s 2024 ‘Poet / Translator in Residence.’ During her residency, she edited and translated ‘SEA SHELLS: An anthology of emerging poets from Gaza.’ Her poetry has appeared in Letters from Gaza (Penguin, 2025) and she is one of the four Gazan authors included in Voices of Resistance: Diaries of Genocide (Comma Press, 2025). Her debut poetry collection 48Kg (Tenement Press, 2025) was reviewed on the ‘best recent poetry’ list by the Guardian.