Salma Hussain, author of The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan (May 2022), recommends twelve books with Muslim characters written by Canadian authors.
Read More“As an adult they seem incongruous, but as children we knew seemingly opposite things can co-exist…as long as we made the space”
Nina Hamza, the author of Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year, on the power of ‘and’ when crafting a middle-grade coming-of-age story about identity.
Read More“Both [my] characters soon come to realise that, like everything that ascends, they must come down eventually where their problems still remain”
Aneesa Marufu, the author of The Balloon Thief, writes a guest post on how feelings of prejudice and unbelonging drove this debut fantasy.
Read More“Faith is not a static thing; it may ebb and flow, and I attempted to illustrate the same fluctuations”
In January 2022, a romantic tale took readers on a heartfelt journey of faith, family, and love. Salaam, With Love captures the feeling of being different, of not fitting in, while also exploring one’s relationship with their cultural and religious heritage. And of course, it’s about first love. Set in New York, this comforting and…
Read More“The shape of the trauma may be different, but the taste of tears on their tongue is the same”
In August 2021, a feminist fantasy unapologetically took readers on a journey of sisterhood, anger, and resilience. The Wild Ones is a heart-heavy, lyrical, and magical tale that doesn’t shy away from acknowledging and tackling societal flaws, institutionalised wrongs, and trauma. With characters who navigate the myriad meanings of empowerment and vulnerability, the author —whose…
Read More“It was incredibly cathartic for me to portray the spiritual struggles of my protagonists”
In March 2021, a fantasy set in a colonised Indo-Persian world and inspired by pre-Islamic Arabian mythology was published. The Descent of the Drowned is a dark, immersive, and powerful debut that also has undertones of the political and sociocultural issues of the region. But it’s biggest asset is characterisation. The morally ambiguous protagonists make…
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Guest Post: Writing A Medieval India-Inspired Fantasy World [Tanaz Bhathena]
Tanaz Bhathena creates a fantasy world inspired by medieval India and takes elements of Indian and Persian mythology in Hunted by the Sky. This guest posts elaborated on the same by the author.
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“I hope it means that queer South Asian teens don’t have to feel the way I did when I was younger: that they don’t think about their race and nationality being in conflict with their sexuality”
Today’s post is very special because Adiba Jaigirdar, a Bangladeshi-Irish author, is here with a guest post on the importance of conversations around sexual orientation in stories with South Asian culture while she also divulges into the history of sexuality and gender spectrum in pre-colonial South Asia. Her debut novel, The Henna Wars — a…
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Guest Post: Queer Books That Came in My Life At The Right Time [Leah Johnson]
As part of the Pride Month Features on this blog, I have Leah Johnson—whose ownvoices queer debut, You Should See Me in a Crown, has already received great praise from renowned names like Kacen Callender, Mason Deaver, Sabina Khan, and Camryn Garrett—to share her favourite queer books!
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Fanna for Books 