Issa J. Boullata is a Palestinian scholar, writer, and translator of Arabic literature. He was born in Jerusalem on February 25, 1929 during the British Mandate of Palestine. He obtained a First Class BA (Honours) in Arabic and Islamic studies in 1964 followed by a PhD in Arabic literature in 1969, both from the University of London. He taught Arabic studies for seven years at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, before moving to McGill University, Montreal, in 1975.[3] He taught graduate courses in Arabic Literature, Modern Arab Thought, and Qur'anic Studies at McGill's Institute of Islamic Studies until his retirement in 2004, and the honorific title of Emeritus Professor was conferred upon him on September 1, 2009. In his academic career in Hartford and Montreal, he was the supervisor of ten graduate students who wrote their PhD dissertations under his advice as well as thirty-eight who likewise wrote their MA theses——and some of these graduate students' works were later published. He currently lives in Montreal.

Boullata is the author of several books on Arabic literature and poetry, and on the Qur'an. He has also written numerous articles and book reviews for scholarly journals, as well as articles for several encyclopedias. He is a noted translator of Arabic literature and is a two-time winner of the Arkansas Arabic Translation Award. He is a contributing editor of Banipal magazine of London, and his literary translations have appeared in several issues of the magazine.

Boullata's eldest son is Dr. Joseph I. Boullata, Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Nutrition at the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania; his middle son is David Boullata, broadcaster (pseudonym: David Tyler) in Montreal, communications lecturer, and writer; and his youngest son is the Reverend Peter Boullata of the Unitarian Universalist First Parish Church in Lexington, Massachusetts. Kamal Boullata, the well-known painter, art historian, and literary writer, is his brother and lived in Menton, France and now lives in Berlin, Germany.

Awards:

Issa J. Boullata was awarded the MESA Mentoring Award in Nov. 2004 by the Middle East Studies Association of North America in recognition of his excellent teaching and scholarly influence on generations of students.