Dina Rabadi is an American writer, speaker and activist of Czech and Arab descent.    In addition to writing novels, short stories, essays and articles, she is also the founder and executive director of Global Alliance of Artists, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit which seeks to solve social problems on a local, national and international level by leveraging artists and creativity found in communities (www.GlobalAllianceArtists.org)

Transcending three cultures by birth and circumstance (the Middle East, the Czech Republic and America) Dina’s essays, short stories and articles have appeared in over twenty periodicals including The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and Fiction. She has attended Squaw Valley Community of Writers in Fiction and completed a writing residency at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology (www.sitkacenter.org) on the Oregon Coast.  She has won grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the Vogelstein Foundation.   She has given talks at Notre Dame University and Ball State University among others.

Nearly all of Dina’s writings deals with prevailing social problems and is most concerned with issues around immigration, international relations, gender and the environment.   She founded Global Alliance of Artists to highlight the role of artists as diplomats and states, “Artists are too often marginalized in society.  We have a great deal to offer the world in terms of our creative and constructive view of the world– this view, and our ideas, can be used to help solve some of the most pressing social problems of our time.”

Her fiction is influenced by South American magical realists such as Isabel Allende as well as the Czech artist, Toyen.  Her social advocacy is inspired by George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf and the former Czech President, Vaclav Havel.

Dina traveled to the Middle East last summer to conduct research for her first novel which she is currently writing.

Photo Courtesy of Dana Rabadi:  Shot in Ajlun, Jordan.