Saadia Faruqi has authored over a dozen books and counting, from early readers to graphic novels and more. She also runs Blue Minaret, a space for Muslim writers to share their perspectives and voices, as editor-in-chief, and continues to write non-fiction as a living.
Hayat spoke with Faruqi about her writing process, upcoming works, and more.
You’ve written several books in collaboration with others. What’s that process like? What are some of the best and/or most difficult parts of collaborative writing?
Two of my books are co-authored, A Place At The Table with Laura Shovan, and The Wonders We Seek with my mother Aneesa Mumtaz. Collaborating is definitely challenging, because you are working with another person who has their own (and often different from your) writing process. So we spent a lot of time getting used to each other’s styles and preferences, and discussing how to work, what our responsibilities would be, and so forth. The best part of co-writing is learning a different way of doing something, which can be so eye-opening. The most difficult part is giving up, or at least sharing, control of the creative process. But once you get over that, you see that the resulting book is so much better because of the collaboration.
What are you reading these days? Any author recommendations for our readers (besides you, of course!)?
I read adult romance in my free time, which is a very fun sort of escapism and entertainment one needs after the sort of hyperfocus I have in my career. For children’s books I recommend Maleeha Siddiqui, Reem Faruqi, Aya Khalil, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Ashley Franklin and Syed M. Masood, among others. All are amazing Muslim authors with fabulous books.
What’s the most rewarding part of what you do (either as a fiction author, editor, or just a person)? What’s the most difficult?
Knowing that readers’ love my books and find them helpful in their own lives is definitely the most rewarding aspect. I get messages from parents, teachers, even students themselves telling me that they’re eagerly awaiting my next book, and it makes all the effort worthwhile. The most difficult is probably the writing itself. It’s not easy to write novels of any length, and when you’re doing a full-time job with multiple books releasing a year, there can be a sense of burn-out and exhaustion. It’s not an insurmountable danger by any means, but is something I have to look out for.
What’s up next for you? I see on your site there’s a graphic novel in the works. Have you dabbled in that format before?
In October I have a new chapter book series called Marya Khan, for kids in grades 3 and 4. This is a new series with lots of illustrations and a spunky main character who I hope readers will love as much as they love Yasmin. The first book in this series is titled Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party. Next year I have another new series releasing called Ali The Great, which is a spin-off from the Yasmin series starring her best friend Ali. This is an early eader series for kids in grades 1 and 2. And yes, there is a middle grade graphic novel coming in the fall of 2023, called Saving Sunshine. which is my first foray into the graphic novel format. I wrote the story, but the fantastic art is brought to you by Shazleen Khan. I’m really looking forward to it.
Check out all the books by Saadia Faruqi here.
