PhD, University of Waterloo
MA, American University of Beirut
BA, Notre Dame University- Louaize
Email: lelmekka@uwaterloo.ca
Biography
I received a B.A. in English Language and Literature and an M.A. in English Literature at the American University of Beirut and completed my PhD in English Literature, specializing in Transnational and Diaspora Theory. I currently teach in English and Communications courses at the University of Waterloo. I am also the lead non-fiction editor at The New Quarterly. My writing has been published in World Literature Today, Event Magazine, Annahar English, Beirut Today, Wasafiri, The New Quarterly, and Home Magazine.
Selected Publications
Hesitant Belonging: Understanding Generational Traumas of Forced Migration in Black and Palestinian Diaspora Contemporary Transnational Fiction. UWSpace, 2024. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/20569
One Foot Out the Door: Indecisive Cosmopolitanism and Rabih Alameddine. 2016. American University of Beirut, MA thesis. AUB ScholarWorks. https://scholarworks.aub.edu.lb/handle/10938/20894.
“Belonging through Artistic Expression: Expressing African diasporic connections they see in their movement, artwork, and, more generally, heritage and culture.” Black and Free Anthology, Wilfrid Laurier Press, forthcoming 2026.
“Lands of Solidarity: Understanding Contemporary North American and Palestinian Indigenous Realities through Interactive Documentary.” Stories from the Margins, edited by Francesca Mussi. Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, pp. 260-275.
"The Hesitant Local: The Global Citizens of Open City and Americanah." Afropolitan Literature as World Literature, edited by James Hodapp, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020, pp. 199-213.
With Shanique Mothersill, Jellisa Ricketts. “Explorations of Camille Turner's Unmapped.” Canadian Theater Review, November 2024, vol. 198, pp. 55-58.
"Indecisive Cosmopolitanism in Rabih Alameddine’s Koolaids." Postcolonial Studies Association: Loving the Stranger: Newsletter #28, 2022, pp. 17-20.
Current Research and Work
I am expanding my doctoral research on hesitancy and belonging by exploring new research ventures.
Research and Teaching Areas
- Palestinian Studies
- Migration and Diaspora Theory
- Black Studies
- Anti-Racist Activism
- Critical Race Theory
- Discourse Analysis
- World Literature
- Postcolonial Literature