February222013
I write when everyone is asleep. I write with music. I never plan it. But it is a very constant. It feels organic. My poems come to me in images, like film. I can see it very clearly and then this overwhelming urge to write out best what I just saw comes over me. I write best with free writes, where I refuse to edit what is leaving me, where I write within a specific time frame. I refuse to obsess over it, and if it doesn’t come out easily, then I leave it. I don’t write for an audience. I’m thankful to take my time. The poems happen to me. Sometimes I have no actual idea where they have come from. - Warsan Shire (x)

I write when everyone is asleep. I write with music. I never plan it. But it is a very constant. It feels organic. My poems come to me in images, like film. I can see it very clearly and then this overwhelming urge to write out best what I just saw comes over me. I write best with free writes, where I refuse to edit what is leaving me, where I write within a specific time frame. I refuse to obsess over it, and if it doesn’t come out easily, then I leave it. I don’t write for an audience. I’m thankful to take my time. The poems happen to me. Sometimes I have no actual idea where they have come from.

- Warsan Shire (x)

(via nomadmanifesto)

warsan shire poet writer fave 

August242012
“Education should inspire you; it should expand your knowledge base and open you up to the possibility of new experiences and for me an Arts degree did exactly that. The world is brimming with successful Arts graduates. Take Kevin Rudd who graduated with a major in Asian Studies, knowledge evidently useful in his stint as PM and later as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Consider JK Rowling who studied the classics before writing the Harry Potter series that sold over 375 million copies worldwide and translated into 64 different languages. Or Steve Jobs who credits his study of calligraphy as inspiring the typography for the first ever Mac, before he hit Silicon Valley with a force few of us will forget, even Stephen Colbert studied philosophy before moving into comedy. An Arts degree doesn’t reduce you to nothingness before your peers (unless you let it); it provides you with a springboard from which to dive into a sea of rewarding possibility. The expectations of polite society, our parents and the lady at the bus stop might unconsciously steer us toward a stable job in a noble profession, but remember this; rarely does a degree guarantee you a job no matter how specialised it is. So I’ll tell you what I tell all my students and that is, for the love of any deity in which you believe, if any at all, follow your passion and the rest will come. And as for the title, well it doesn’t really matter how swanky it is here, it won’t appear on your tombstone.”

Mehal Krayem, Stop apologising for your Arts degree

Muslimah Arts students represent!

(Source: )

Mehal Krayem australia writer 

March172012

First Person: Qatari filmmaker Sophia al-Maria (Sci-Fi Wahabi) - 04 Nov 09 (by AlJazeeraEnglish)

Sophia al-Maria sci-fi science fiction filmmaker qatar muslimah badass muslimah muslim woman artist writer 

March112012
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))

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))

Sophia Al-Maria sci-fi science fiction writer author qatar muslimah badass muslimah badass muslimahs 

February182012

SHATTER ME Book 2 Title Reveal! Plus other things! (by thmafi)

Shatter Me Tahereh Mafi YA Novel author muslim woman muslimah video writer young adult 

February32012
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)

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:

(via Rukhsana Khan author profile | Quill & Quire &  RukhsanaKhan.com)

 (via Rukhsana Khan)

(via espritfollet)

Rukhsana Khan author writer canada 

December152011
(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.

(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.

Tahereh Mafi Shatter Me Badass Muslimah author writer YA author YA novel YA lit muslim woman muslim 

December132011
lotus-eyes: Rally led by poetess Sufia Kamal Sufia Kamal (Bangla: সুফিয়া কামাল) (June 20, 1911-November 20, 1999) was a poet, writer, organizer, feminist and activist from Bangladesh. She was born to a Muslim family in Barisal, Bangladesh. She is one of the most widely recognized cultural personalities in Bangladesh. When she died in 1999, she was buried with full state honors, the first woman in Bangladesh to receive this honor. Shewas born in Shaestabad, daughter of a distinguished zamindar family, in Barisal. During her childhood, women’s education was prohibited and she could not afford to get academic education. But she learnt Bangla, Hindi, English, Urdu, Arabic, Kurdish and Persian language from her house tutors. In 1918, she went to Kolkata with her mother where she came to meet with Begum Rokeya. She was first married at the age of 11 to her cousin Syed Nehal Hossain, then a law student. They had a daughter, Amena Kahar, and Mr. Hossain died in 1932. Five years later, Ms. Kamal married Kamaluddin Ahmed. In addition to her first daughter, Ms. Kamal is survived by two other daughters, Sultana Kamal and Saida Kamal; two sons, Shahed Kamal and Sajed Kamal; three grandsons, three granddaughters and four great-grandchildren. A short story “Shainik Bodhu” which she wrote was published in a local paper in 1923. She came across prominent South Asian personalities, such as Begum Rokeya, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Mahatma Gandhi. Rokeya, who can be regarded the first female feminist of Bengal, had a lasting impression on her. Sufia Kamal’s first poem, Bashanti (Of spring), was published in the then influential magazine, Saogat in 1926. In 1931 she became the first Bengali Muslim female to be the member of Indian Women Federation.

lotus-eyes:

Rally led by poetess Sufia Kamal

Sufia Kamal (Bangla: সুফিয়া কামাল) (June 20, 1911-November 20, 1999) was a poet, writer, organizer, feminist and activist from Bangladesh. She was born to a Muslim family in Barisal, Bangladesh. She is one of the most widely recognized cultural personalities in Bangladesh. When she died in 1999, she was buried with full state honors, the first woman in Bangladesh to receive this honor.

Shewas born in Shaestabad, daughter of a distinguished zamindar family, in Barisal. During her childhood, women’s education was prohibited and she could not afford to get academic education. But she learnt Bangla, Hindi, English, Urdu, Arabic, Kurdish and Persian language from her house tutors. In 1918, she went to Kolkata with her mother where she came to meet with Begum Rokeya. She was first married at the age of 11 to her cousin Syed Nehal Hossain, then a law student. They had a daughter, Amena Kahar, and Mr. Hossain died in 1932. Five years later, Ms. Kamal married Kamaluddin Ahmed.

In addition to her first daughter, Ms. Kamal is survived by two other daughters, Sultana Kamal and Saida Kamal; two sons, Shahed Kamal and Sajed Kamal; three grandsons, three granddaughters and four great-grandchildren.

A short story “Shainik Bodhu” which she wrote was published in a local paper in 1923. She came across prominent South Asian personalities, such as Begum Rokeya, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Mahatma Gandhi. Rokeya, who can be regarded the first female feminist of Bengal, had a lasting impression on her.

Sufia Kamal’s first poem, Bashanti (Of spring), was published in the then influential magazine, Saogat in 1926. In 1931 she became the first Bengali Muslim female to be the member of Indian Women Federation.

(via espritfollet)

Sufia Kamal Bangladesh feminist activist writer 

November192011
Meet Maytha Alhassen, a doctoral student in American Studies & Ethnicity, blogger, writer, Hijabi Monologues performer, Malcolm X researcher, co-editor of upcoming book on the Arab Spring and contributor to book I Speak For Myself. Check out Maytha’s personal website and USC page. Photo by RidzDesign (via Maytha Alhassen)

Meet Maytha Alhassen, a doctoral student in American Studies & Ethnicity, blogger, writer, Hijabi Monologues performer, Malcolm X researcher, co-editor of upcoming book on the Arab Spring and contributor to book I Speak For Myself. Check out Maytha’s personal website and USC page. Photo by RidzDesign (via Maytha Alhassen)

Maytha Alhassen academic performer artist writer muslimah muslim woman islam muslim usa 

May192011
“We’ve grown so used to hearing non-Muslims speak for Muslim women, dissecting their decisions about dress, behavior, belief and identity, and this worries me — I want my daughter to be able to speak for herself. I want people to accept her reasoning and the choices she makes, rather than dismiss her as oppressed or ignorant. She will not be ignorant. I don’t think there’s a Muslim woman alive today who can afford ignorance. I hope people will recognize that she is perfectly capable of speaking for herself.”

G. Willow Wilson

My Wish for 2011: A Better World for My Daughter

G. Willow Wilson Muslim Muslimah Muslim woman Islam writer author USA 

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