"Environmental Thought ... The Novels of Uzma Aslam Khan"

Yes, a whole book on my books! I'm stunned, in the happiest of ways. So much gratitude to Dr Sonia Irum for this deep, deep labor of love. 

Dr Sonia Irum and I have twice had the joy of being in conversation and I've been so touched by her sensitive and expansive reading, especially her commitment to highlighting my love of the natural world--a love organic to my worldview. Every writer cherishes a patient and present reader and thinker, and though I've known Sonia to have this generosity, I never expected that an entire book would be devoted to my pages. Thank you, dear Sonia. And congratulations. 💖

Book description, in brief: "Focusing on the novels of the internationally renowned author Uzma Aslam Khan (this book) explores the rich environmental landscapes of Khan's works ... In her novels, Khan gives voice to the nonhuman 'Other,' highlights the harmonious connections between humans and nature, and reflects on the far-reaching ecological, social, and health effects of climate change." 

This work couldn't be more timely. It's available to order worldwide, including here. (And, no, this isn't an April fools post; this is real!)

Removal and Resistance: Reflections on Anti-Muslim Racism

I began writing this article on anti-Muslim racism a couple months ago, soon after a personal incident that I reference in it. This was around the same time as an attack on a couple at a Panera Bread outlet that became the incident I begin with. The result is a work that is global and personal, current and (sadly) likely to remain timeless. Read "Removal and Resistance: Reflections on Anti-Muslim Racism" in full in The Wire. 

EXCERPT: "White and white adjacent bodies may be buffered by the Muslim, Arab, Black, brown and Indigenous bodies that they push to the frontlines of hate, war, and genocide. But what happens when the buffer is gone? Who will be left?"

Mass Cultural Council--Grants for Creative Individuals

Gratitude to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for awarding me this year. Congratulations to all the awardees, 385 out of a pool of 4470 applicants. We come from across creative fields--visual arts, literary arts, theater, music, film, and more--each receiving the same amount, with 98%, myself included, first-time awardees. Read more about grants for individual creatives here.

Top and bottom: fruits of our Japanese maple

Stories Told & Untold: Writing Between Memory & History

Delighted to be on this panel on Tuesday, April 23rd, 7:00 p.m., at the Belchertown Recreation Center in western  Massachusetts, in community with Therese Soukar Chehade and Hannah Moushabeck. We'll each speak on how we navigate the spaces between memory, history and narrative; I'll especially focus on my last novel, The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali. 

Hope you'll join us! Promises to be a special evening. 💓

23rd Annual Massachusetts Book Awards Ceremony

Honored to receive the 2023 Mass Book Award in Fiction for  The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali at the Massachusetts State House in Boston at the ceremony last week. Given by Mass Center for the Book, the award has this citation from the judges:

'The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali is a sweeping historical epic, set in the Andaman Islands. Centered on the experiences of Nomi and Zee, children born to a convict and his wife, the novel shows how their day-to-say existence is sharply altered with the advent of World War II and their homeland moving from British to Japanese control. Beautiful language and page-turning events combine to make this novel eminently readable, illuminating an under-represented part of the word during perhaps the highest impact event of the 20th century.' 

As returning visitors to my blog likely know, and as I shared in my acceptance remarks, the language took a long time to find. Language was failing me because the archives were failing me. Because of the colonial project itself, the selective erasure that it's built upon. Much of what I know is through sources that omit people like me--brown, Muslim women from the Global South, ourselves products of multiple displacements caused by colonialism and war. Once I understood that I couldn't trust the 'facts,' only then did a language for my characters begin to form, one of imagination, of enchantment. One that I could trust. It took 27 years (+ 3 for US publication). In all that time, though the geography has remained under-represented, tragically, the story has always been as much about the present as the past. 

It touches me deeply that the award is from the state where the book found its completion, and where I still live. Truly, I didn't expect to win. There were v big names up this year that I was sure it would go to. Huge thanks to the judges and again to MCB for promoting books & writers, reading & libraries. Congratulations to all the winners, honorees & must-reads. Enjoy some pics.

Courtney Andree, Executive Director of MCB, our wonderful emcee. Photo: Merrill Shea

Me + the story of the story. Photo: David Maine

Me + the story. Photo Credit: Merrill Shea

2023 Mass Book Awards in Fiction: The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali wins!

The 2023 Massachusetts Book Awards were announced today and The Miraculous True History of Nomi Ali is the winner in fiction. What an honor and a thrill! A blessing with a kiss.

Learn more, and buy a copy: https://bookshop.org/lists/2023-massachusetts-book-awards 

Congratulations to all the winners, honorees, must-reads in all the categories--all who dare to write a book and put it out there. 

Writers need privacy and quiet, but also community and reciprocity. Maybe especially those of us who've been at it for a long time. James Baldwin said it best, of course: "Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent is all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance." Endurance needs support. Today I feel the support. 

Immense gratitude to Mass Center for the Book and to Massachusetts librarians for reading and judging. Every librarian, every reader, every organization that supports literature and those who create it, is doing the work of keeping a dying culture of empathy and imagination alive. This is warrior work. Thank you, thank you.  

Read the full list in all categories: https://www.massbook.org/mass-book-awards

Australian Book Review: 2023 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize / Shortlist, Podcast, Ceremony

The shortlist:

I wrote a story, "Our Own Fantastic," and it's one of three to be shortlisted for Australian Book Review's 2023 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. Congratulations to all. The stories can be read in full in the August print issue. 

The podcast:

If you'd like to hear me read the story, listen to the podcast on ABR's website. It's my first time reading a work from start to finish; an advantage of a short story over a novel.

The ceremony:

There's a Zoom ceremony this Thursday, August 17 at 6:00 pm Australian time (Melbourne). If the timing works (it'll be 4:00 a.m. US EST, but better on most other time zones!), RSVP to: rsvp@australianbookreview.com.au They'll send the Zoom link via email on the morning of the event.

There were 1200 entries from 38 countries. Many thanks to the judges and to Australian Book Review 💜