Lena Khalaf Tuffaha is a poet, essayist, and translator.

She is co-founder of the Institute for Middle East Understanding and the author of five works of poetry: Letters from the Interior (Diode Editions); the 2018 Washington State Book Award winner Water & Salt (Red Hen Press); the 2016 Two Sylvias Press Prize winner Arab in Newsland (Two Sylvias Press),[1] Kaan and Her Sisters (Trio House Press, July 2023), finalist for the 2024 Firecracker Award.

Khalaf Tuffaha is the recipient of a 2019 Washington State Artist Trust Fellowship and the inaugural Poet-In-Residence at Open Books: A Poem Emporium in Seattle, Washington.

[5] Khalaf Tuffaha holds a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington and an MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.

[6][non-primary source needed] Based in Washington, Khalaf Tuffaha has also served as spokesperson for the Seattle chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.