Samaa Abdurraqib

Samaa Abdurraqib currently serves as the Executive Director of the Maine Humanities Council. Prior to working at Maine Humanities, Samaa held positions at the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, the ACLU of Maine, and was a Visiting Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at Bowdoin College. She has served on the board of several Maine-based nonprofits, and has worked with many nonprofits and organizations as a contract consultant, a coach for BIPOC leaders, and a facilitator. Samaa is a certified as a Maine Master Naturalist, which allows her to lead outdoor teaching experiences for people who want to learn about the beings (plants, insects, animals) in this region. Recently, Samaa’s poetry can be found in Cider Press Review, december magazine, and Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora. She’s the editor of From Root to Seed: Black, Brown, and Indigenous Poets Write the Northeast (2023) and the forthcoming collection Cape Cod to Nova Scotia: Art, Ecology, Poetry of the Gulf of Maine (2027). She has been supported by residencies at Hewnoaks, Monson Arts, and Hog Island Audubon. Samaa’s chapbook, Towards a Retreat, was published by Diode Editions in August 2025, which was named as the 2026 Eric Hoffer Chapbook Award winner. Samaa was named as a finalist for the 2026 CAAPP Book Prize.