About

Sara Bawany is an award-winning poet, two-time author, clinical social worker, and creative writing teacher based in Austin, TX. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Texas State University, and previously graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with her Master’s in Social Work and her Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Islamic Studies. 

Sara's first poetry book, “(w)holehearted: a collection of poetry and prose” was self-published in September 2018 and won Daybreak Press Publishing’s 2019 “Best Poetry Book” award. Her second book was published with FlowerSong Press in October 2023, titled, “Quarter Life Crisis”, with one of the poems nominated for a Pushcart prize. In December 2024, she co-edited and published her first community anthology with House of Amal called “Threads of Palestine” with 100% of the proceeds going to charity.

Sara is a curriculum developer and Lead Writing Instructor at House of Amal, which is a craft and community-focused institution to empower and support Muslim writers. She has a small freelance editing business that aims to strengthen writers who seek her assistance. When not writing, teaching or editing, she works with clients as a licensed mental health therapist through her own private practice. 

Sara was selected as a finalist for Austin’s first Poet Laureate program as well as in Button Poetry’s 2021 Annual Chapbook Contest. Her work has been featured twice on TEDx, ACLU TX, The Texas Observer, Infrarrealista Review, Muslim Youth Musings literary magazine and more, including Seventh Wave Magazine, who also nominated one of her poems for a 2024 Pushcart Prize. She has spoken and performed at over 100 different engagements both in her social work capacity and as a poet.