A Little Book Review: The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write
While it's very difficult to rate an anthology, I found this collection of writing by British Muslim women to overall by very enjoyable! I find that I hardly ever read books by Arab and/or Muslim writers, and I found this anthology to be a great introduction to so many writers I probably would not have encountered otherwise.
Curated by Sabrina Mahfouz (whose short play also appears in the book), The Things I Would Tell You brings together an incredibly diverse array of writers who all identify as British, Muslim, and woman, although under those umbrella terms there are women who were born and raised in the UK, those who immigrated there, and those who have since left, women who are practicing Muslims and those who are minimally involved in the culture, and although it is unknown to me whether any of the authors identify as trans or non-binary, at least one of the writers openly discusses her queerness. Additionally, the writers come from or are descended from those who came from countries all over the the Middle East and North Africa, including Pakistan, Algeria, Yemen, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories.
In addition to the diversity of the authors included, their styles vary greatly. The collection includes short stories, essays, poetry, and plays and I have to say the poetry and the plays were my favorite to read (duh), but I also loved the short stories that featured elements of magical realism or mysticism. I didn't love most of the essays, especially the ones that were just super political, but enjoyed the ones that were based more in personal experiences.
Overall, I’m glad I read this entire collection and it reminded me of how many writers out there I’m yet to discover. As previously mentioned, I’m making a concerted effort to diversify my reading list, and it’s really important to me that that effort includes writers from as wide a variety of cultures as possible. Additionally, I strive to support writers of other cultures who are not only writing cultural commentary or work steeped in pain/trauma, and this collection is a great example of how much variety there is in any group of people. I believe I only read one book by an Arab writer last year (a book which, to be honest, I really did not enjoy), but now I have a great jumping off point to delve into the work of so many talented women. It also reminded me to read more plays and poetry and not to skip off over anthologies!