Rana Bitar is a Syrian-American physician, poet, and writer. She earned her Master’s in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University.

​

​Her memoir, The Long Tale of Tears and Smiles, was published by Global Collective Publishers in August 2021.

​

​She is the author of two poetry chapbooks, A Loaf of Bread (Unsolicited Press, 2019) and Hold Your Breath (Unsolicited Press, 2023). Her book of translated poems by Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, Love and Resistance was published by Fernwood Press in 2025.

 

​A Loaf of Bread was a finalist in the “Concrete Wolf Chapbook Competition” in 2017 and won an honorable mention in “The 2017 Louis Award” for poetry. The book was #4 on the top 10 must read books on HubPages reviews.

​

​Hold Your Breath was selected by The National Women’s History Museum to be on Exhibit for their Coronavirus Journaling Project.

​​

Love and Resistance was chosen by CLMP (Community of Literary Magazines and Presses) for its 2025 National Translation Month spotlight.

​

​Her poetry has appeared in many journals including, The Deadly Writers Patrol, DoveTales, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Magnolia Review, El Portal, Pacific REVIEW, Black Coffee Review, The Phoenix, The Dewdrop, The International Human Rights Art Festival, The Charleston Anvil, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, The Sextant Review, The Nonconformist Magazine, Perceptions, and Seeing Things: Anthology of Poetry.

​​

​Her translation of Arabic poetry appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, The Nonconformist, Illuminations, and AGNI.

​​

​Her essays have been published in The Pharos Journal, Pink Panther Magazine and MedPage Today.

​

 She lives in upstate NY, where she practices hematology and oncology.