In a conversation I had with one of my close friends this morning, she told me that September is a month of new beginnings, but it’s also a month that can bring challenges with grief and loss. This does make sense; after all, without endings there is no new beginnings. Continue reading Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2020
“When we choose to love we choose to move against fear-against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect-to find ourselves in the other.” Continue reading bell hooks on Love
As a war narrative enveloped in magic, love, and hope, The Baghdad Clock adds depth to the burgeoning genre of postcolonial Iraqi novels. Continue reading The Real and the Imaginary: The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi
“Compassion is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it withers. The question is what to do with the feelings that have been aroused, the knowledge that has been communicated. If one feels that there is nothing “we” can do—but who is that “we”?—and nothing “they” can do either—and who are “they”?—then one starts to get bored, cynical, apathetic.” Continue reading Susan Sontag on Compassion
Alifa Rifaat’s stories are situated within an Islamic framework that allows her to create a feminism of her own. Since Islam and empowerment are often misguidedly placed in contradiction to one another, it’s easy to see why Rifaat is not a household name. Continue reading A Feminism of One’s Own: Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat
From Tanwi Nandini Islam to Lorrie Moore: here are six books that can bring you comfort and ease during troubling times. Continue reading Comfort Reads: What to Read in Troubling Times
READING & WRITING TO MAKE MEANING OF THE WORLD AND BEYOND 