I am looking forward to my new single story project, focusing in on women from the middle east. My books cover women from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Syria. I find that I barely know anything about life in the middle east. I've always assumed that life there was poor. I imagined, through that entire area sand huts, people in rags and in the traditional "middle eastern style" clothing that covers all but the eyes. I also in my imaginary world of the middle east imagine military trucks and weapons all over the place. I know that these ideas aren't true for that entire part of the world, but the American media has brain washed me to think that one way. Specifically for women I do know that they do not have many rights in those countries. But one problem I have is that I have only imagined the middle east, so the people there haven't been "materialized" for me. I know that they are humans and deserve
every right that we have, but I still haven't connected with any of their stories, which I know is what I am about to do in this project!
So far I only have 5 books, but I am hoping to find the sixth soon.
Nonfiction: The Home That Was Our Country (Syria)
Fiction: Girls of Riyadh, Rajaa Al-Sanea (Saudi Arabia)
Historical Fiction: The Bastard of Istanbul (Turkey)
Autobiography: Persepolis (Iran)
Biography: Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
What a big shift. Congratulations on looking deep and trying to step outside of that single story space. If you're interested in poetry, I have a collection of poems by Middle Eastern poets, both male and female. I believe they are writing in English although some may be translated. That's something I'd wonder about your books. Have they all been written in another language and translated? I am Malala is a memoir, which might also be inspirational to read.
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