BLACK HISTORY MONTH: “Healing Through Black Narratives”: The 2022 Black Muslim Authors Conference Celebrates and Promotes Promising Writers
Lede: Organizers and authors tell AMT about some of the challenges in the literary world including the lack of representation for Muslims and specifically Muslim men.
By: Hedija Spahalic, AMT Reporter
The 4th annual Black Muslim Authors Conference (BMACon) coincided with Black History Month this year and was a celebration of authors spanning multiple genres, ranging from poetry to fiction.
BMACon, whose partners included Haute Hijab, Muslim Girls Read, Every Kinda Lady and NbA Muslims, was once again virtual due to COVID, as it has been for the past two years. However, co-organizer Maryam Sullivan says this format has its advantages.
“The first one we hosted was sponsored by NYU… However, once we went virtual, we were able to bring in more authors who were not able to physically come to New York City to participate,” Sullivan said. “I really like the online format just because we’re able to bring in so many international authors from London and Canada.”
Sullivan, who is an editor for the New England Muslim Women’s Association and former assistant director of the Islamic Writers Alliance, is an author herself. Her novel “The Size of a Mustard Seed,” written under the pen name Umm Juwayriyah, is the first published Islamic Urban fiction title.
The event has expanded since its formation in 2018 and takes place over multiple days. Each year a different theme is selected with a specific focus for authors and panelists to center their seminars around.
This year the theme chosen by Sullivan was “Healing Through Black Narratives.” She felt it was important to reflect on the racial divide and intense suffering that has happened in the past few years in the US and worldwide.
“Some of those stories are going to be stories of their struggles with just getting through the day and getting through these tests,” Sullivan said. “As Muslims, we know that Allah has already decreed therefore we have an understanding that this world was not created for the most ease and for the most happiness…There are ways to find inspiration through difficulty.”
Along with Sullivan, some of the other panelists in this year’s BMACon included fellow co-organizers Layla Abdullah-Poulos and Nzima Hutchings, authors Zarinah el-Amin, Zakiyyah Evans, Jatasha Sharif and Nasheed Jaxson. Writing through a range of genres, the panel offered a diverse literary lineup.
However, one panelist wants to highlight another issue prevalent in the writer community: the lack of black male Muslim fiction writers.
“In the past, all I’ve seen is a bunch of women fiction writers and what I’m hoping to bring is more men readers, more men writers,” Jaxson said.
The author of “Her Justice” and “Her Justice Too” said there needs to be more accurate representations of Muslims depicted in fiction writing. Muslims who lead normal, average everyday lives. Muslims whose entire personality is not based around their religion. Muslims who are written like every other fictional character. That is what Jaxson hopes to achieve through his writing and he wants to inspire other writers to do the same.
“Something I learned years ago, Islam is a way of life, it’s not just a religion,” Jaxson said. “We live this, this is not something we just go through on Sundays or Fridays, it’s just every day for us. And in that, it’s a whole bunch of happiness and pain. A bunch of it.”
BMACon allows authors and audience members to address specific issues in the writing community. By offering this platform, organizers want BMACon to become a place for writers to seek solutions to problems that are within their reach. The conference also shows that creative expression is necessary for literary development.
“We want to encourage reading, we want to encourage literacy, especially in urban Muslim communities,” Sullivan said. “Making sure that young Muslims especially understand that there are stories out there that represent their life and experiences, that they can be influenced by and inspired by. And also, if you see something that’s not there, that’s not whatever you’re looking for, you have the ability to put it there, to write it, and to tell your story. And that your story matters.”
