Sophia Al-Maria, who also goes by the nom-de-plume Sci-Fi Wahabi, is a Qatari artist and a writer. Her work is mainly fused with futurism in the Gulf region. In the past she has curated a tour of Doha by Dhow called “Future Tents” and has also performed ‘tours from the future’ at Art Dubai. Part of her is also about fusing American and Arab pop cultures. She is also the Gulf Collection Curator at the Arab Museum of Modern Art. She is currently writing a book for Harper Perennial.  (via Islam and Science Fiction » News SF by Muslims » Sophia Al-Maria (Sci-Fi Wahabi))

racismfreeontario:

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.
• Follow our facebook fanpage , tumblr, twitter and website for daily updates.

 (via Rukhsana Khan)

(via espritfollet)

(via ‘Shatter Me’ Author Tahereh Mafi Talks ‘X-Men’ Comparisons)

Tahereh Mafi is the author of the new YA novel Shatter Me.

In her own words:

She’s 24. She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Orange County, California, where she drinks too much caffeine and finds the weather to be just a little too perfect for her taste. When unable to find a book, she can be found reading candy wrappers, coupons, and old receipts.  SHATTER ME is her first novel.

http://www.taherehmafi.com/

She’s also one of us.

arabiyafatale:

The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf- Mohja Kahf

A Muslim Feminist Novel

I don’t think I’ve ever resonated with a novel like I have with  The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. Kahf eloquently writes a “provocative” bildungsroman novel through the eyes of Khadra Shamy and her American journey, that shifts through her stages of practicing Islam, and her muslim feminist awakening. Kahf delves into the Muslim community in America and abroad as she scales though religious, social, and political problems of the 1970’s-1980’s that still mirror the community and it’s youth today.  

A must read for muslims and non-muslims!

(Source: fala7idreams)

G. Willow Wilson

American comic book writer and author of The Butterfly Mosque.

She also writes the occasional article in the paper.

Badass.