| Vendor | |
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Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik |
| Original language | |
| English | |
WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE
A queer Muslim searches for the language to express her truest self, making peace with her sexuality, her family, and Islam
Growing up in Pakistan, Samra Habib lacks a blueprint for the life she wants. She has a mother who gave up everything to be a pious, dutiful wife and an overprotective father who seems to conspire against a life of any adventure. Plus, she has to hide the fact that she's Ahmadi to avoid persecution from religious extremists.
As the threats against her family increase, they seek refuge in Canada, where new financial and cultural obstacles await them. When Samra discovers that her mother has arranged her marriage, she must again hide a part of herself--the fun-loving, feminist teenager that has begun to bloom--until she simply can't any longer.
So begins a journey of self-discovery that takes her to Tokyo, where she comes to terms with her sexuality, and to a queer-friendly mosque in Toronto, where she returns to her faith in the same neighbourhood where she attended her first drag show. Along the way, she learns that the facets of her identity aren't as incompatible as she was led to believe, and that her people had always been there--the world just wasn't ready for them yet.
PRAISE FOR JUST ME AND ALLAH PHOTO PROJECT:
A perfect union between stylistic sensibility and social activism. Vanity Fair (Italy)
Habib's form of visibility-giving, or representing, takes the form of a recorded archive. Rather than portraying the queer Muslim experience as a closed narrative with fixed characteristics, she highlights its diversity, creating a historical network of individual presence that is fluid and difficult to reduce to a monolithic entityin the way that journalism's tools of a soundbite, a stereotype, and a clickbait headline are often wont to do. New Inc.
SAMRA HABIB is a writer, photographer, and activist. As a journalist she's covered topics ranging from Muslim fashion trends and dating apps to the rise of Islamophobia in the US. Her portraits have been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and are part of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives' permanent collection. She works with LGBTQ organizations internationally, raising awareness of issues that impact queer Muslims around the world. We Have Always Been Here is her first book.
As the threats against her family increase, they seek refuge in Canada, where new financial and cultural obstacles await them. When Samra discovers that her mother has arranged her marriage, she must again hide a part of herself--the fun-loving, feminist teenager that has begun to bloom--until she simply can't any longer.
So begins a journey of self-discovery that takes her to Tokyo, where she comes to terms with her sexuality, and to a queer-friendly mosque in Toronto, where she returns to her faith in the same neighbourhood where she attended her first drag show. Along the way, she learns that the facets of her identity aren't as incompatible as she was led to believe, and that her people had always been there--the world just wasn't ready for them yet.
PRAISE FOR JUST ME AND ALLAH PHOTO PROJECT:
A perfect union between stylistic sensibility and social activism. Vanity Fair (Italy)
Habib's form of visibility-giving, or representing, takes the form of a recorded archive. Rather than portraying the queer Muslim experience as a closed narrative with fixed characteristics, she highlights its diversity, creating a historical network of individual presence that is fluid and difficult to reduce to a monolithic entityin the way that journalism's tools of a soundbite, a stereotype, and a clickbait headline are often wont to do. New Inc.
SAMRA HABIB is a writer, photographer, and activist. As a journalist she's covered topics ranging from Muslim fashion trends and dating apps to the rise of Islamophobia in the US. Her portraits have been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and are part of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives' permanent collection. She works with LGBTQ organizations internationally, raising awareness of issues that impact queer Muslims around the world. We Have Always Been Here is her first book.
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Book
Published 2019-05-01 by Viking Canada |