Yumna Kassab is a fiction writer from Western Sydney. She completed most of her schooling in Parramatta, except for two formative years when she lived in Lebanon with her family. She went on to study medical science at Macquarie University and neuroscience at Sydney University.
Her book The Lovers (2023) was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, and the Victorian Premier’s Award for Fiction. She also the author of The House of Youssef (2019) and Australiana (2022). Her latest book Politica (2024), is a powerful novel that asks again if it’s possible to ever measure the personal cost of war.
She has been listed for The Stella, Miles Franklin Award, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, QLD Literary Awards, Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and NSW Premier’s Award.
In 2023 Yumna was named Paramatta’s first Laureate in Literature, a position created by the Sydney Review of Books in partnership with the City of Parramatta and the Writing and society Research Centre.
