Alana Saab

Alana Saab is a Portuguese-Lebanese-American literary writer and screenwriter. Her debut novel, Please Stop Trying to Leave Me, will be published by Vintage Books, PRH. She is represented by Janklow & Nesbit. Alana has an MFA from The New School in fiction writing ('22), a masters from Columbia University in Psychology ('19), and a BA from New York University ('16). She writes about the interplay between conscious and unconscious existence, the seen and the unseen, while exploring themes of mental health, trauma, queerness and the transcendent through a metamodern approach. ​ Alana teaches writing workshops to survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual assault through the non-profit Here There and Everywhere. She also mentors incarcerated writers with PEN America's Prison Writing Program. She's been a Teaching Assistant at Parsons School of Design, as well as a Teaching Artist at The New York Public Library and The Academy of American Studies. Her own writing practice and background in psychology directly inform the classes she teaches in Writing & Activism and Creative Writing & Self-Actualization. She is also a partner at Enlivenment, a multimedia production company, where she helps other artists enliven their creative visions. She lives in New York City with her partner, plants and cats.