Rukhsana Khan is a well-known Canadian children’s author who focuses on telling tales of diversity. Since she was a child, Rukhsana Khan dreamed of being a writer. There was just one catch: “I thought writers were white, and I was brown,” the now 46-year-old Khan recalls with a laugh of her days growing up in small-town Dundas, Ontario, in the 1960s. Faced with racism at school, Khan, an avid reader, turned to books for comfort and scribbled her own stories.
Rukhsana sold her first two picture books, Bedtime Ba-a-a-lk and The Roses in My Carpets, to Lester Publishing in 1997. Lester folded soon afterward, but the manuscripts ended up at Stoddart Publishing, which put out both books in 1998. While Bedtime Ba-a-a-lk was a straightforward kids’ picture book about counting sheep, Roses, aimed at a slightly older audience, was Khan’s first book to focus on stories of Muslim children. Inspired by Khan’s visit to her own foster child in Afghanistan, it’s about a young Afghan refugee who finds solace in the colourful roses in the carpets he weaves. The book received glowing reviews for balancing poetic storytelling with stark realism, and continues to be featured on the curriculum in elementary schools across Ontario as an anti-racism resource.
She has appeared on television and radio numerous times, has been featured at international conferences in Denmark, Mexico, Singapore, Italy, and South Africa, and has presented all across Canada and the U.S. She tells tales of India, Persia, the Middle East, as well as her own stories. Rukhsana is also a member of SCBWI, The Writers Union of Canada, CANSCAIP, and Storytelling Toronto.
Writings:
- Multicultural Backlash
- Of Politics & Children’s Books
- Voice Appropriation & Writing About Other Cultures
(via Rukhsana Khan author profile | Quill & Quire & RukhsanaKhan.com)
- Day 34 of Racism Free Ontario’s100 People of Colour Spotlight.
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(via Rukhsana Khan)
(via espritfollet)
