Omar Sabbagh

Omar Sabbagh is a widely published poet, writer, and critic whose work spans over two decades. His poetry has appeared in numerous distinguished journals and magazines, including Poetry Review, PN Review, Agenda, Acumen, New Humanist, The Reader Magazine, Stand, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Banipal, The Warwick Review, The Wolf Magazine, and Poetry Wales, among many others.

He is the author of six full-length poetry collections and one pamphlet, all with Cinnamon Press, including My Only Ever Oedipal Complaint (2010), Morning Lit: Portals After Alia (2022), and For Echo (2024). His prose includes the Beirut-based novella Via Negativa: A Parable of Exile (Liquorice Fish Books, 2016), and the Dubai-based Minutes from the Miracle City (Fairlight Books, 2019). His short fiction—some of it prize-winning—has been widely published, and a collected edition, Y Knots, was released by Liquorice Fish Books in autumn 2023.

Sabbagh's critical and scholarly contributions include Reading Fiona Sampson: A Study in Contemporary Poetry and Poetics (Anthem Press, 2020), which appeared in a revised paperback edition in 2021. His work in narrative poetry includes Cedar: Scenes from Lebanese Life (Northside House, 2023), a collection of verse portraits grounded in the texture of Lebanese society.

An academic with an extensive educational background, Omar Sabbagh holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from the University of Oxford, three Master’s degrees (in English Literature, Creative and Life Writing, and Philosophy) from the University of London, and a PhD in English Literature from King’s College London.

He has taught widely in the Middle East. From 2011 to 2013, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at the American University of Beirut (AUB), and from 2014 to 2024, he served as Associate Professor of English at the American University in Dubai (AUD). As of Fall 2024, he joins the Lebanese American University (LAU) in a new academic role.