Decolonizing History & Reclaiming the Narrative: Leila Aboulela’s Latest Novel River Spirit

What is not to love about a postcolonial novel that complicates the concepts of “victory” and “heroism,” inviting questions about whose victory, whose hero, and whose version of events–whose (hi)story is being told? Continue reading Decolonizing History & Reclaiming the Narrative: Leila Aboulela’s Latest Novel River Spirit

A Man without a Country: In Quest of a Homeland by Yousof Mamoor

The value of In Quest of a Homeland for me lies in its honesty and contribution to, in historian Juliet Gardiner’s terms (1988), history as an ongoing dialogue between the present and the past. Continue reading A Man without a Country: In Quest of a Homeland by Yousof Mamoor

Civilizational Collapse, Taylor Swift(s) of the World, and the Beauty of Connection

As I continued to read the emails Alice and Eileen exchange throughout the novel, I realized: as citizens of the world, we had more in common than I initially thought. Continue reading Civilizational Collapse, Taylor Swift(s) of the World, and the Beauty of Connection

Ece Temelkuran’s Together: Heart-Shaped Stones, Whitman & Us

Together is, indeed, a crucial text that is brutally, lovingly, and magically real. It is the ultimate celebration of our kind and what we can achieve to not only survive but to survive beautifully. Continue reading Ece Temelkuran’s Together: Heart-Shaped Stones, Whitman & Us

From Puyallup to Mount Sinai: The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria

This is Sophia Al-Maria’s gentle reminder that you’re part of something bigger than the constructs of nations, religions, and ethnicities–you’re part of something bigger than yourself. Continue reading From Puyallup to Mount Sinai: The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria