Monthly Wrap-Up | August 2020
In the midst of chaos, I wasn’t able to write as much as I wanted in August, but we are coming back full force.
A Turkish American Story: Selma Ekrem’s ‘Unveiled’
Ekrem’s is a story of displacement and self-realization—a story of reconciliation between Eastern and Western cultural codes within a transcultural space as she grows into independence as a woman and an immigrant.
From Greece to Turkey: Children of War by Ahmet Yorulmaz
Children of War is one of the most important translated works released in 2020. Hassanaki’s story encourages us to resist the politics of demonization that breeds polarization and fear—fear of difference and of change.
The Year of the Middle Eastern Reading Challenge + Unapologetically Muslim Reading Challenge? Yes, please.
This may all seem too idealistic to some but nonetheless conveys a crucial message about the role of the artist and what cultural and literary representations can offer in the ongoing debates about the so-called “problem” of Muslims in the Anglophone North Atlantic.
