Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity

Description

Although there are 22 separate Arab nationalities representing an enormous variety of cultural backgrounds and experiences, the portrayal of Arabs in Australia tends to range from homogenising (at best) to racist pop-culture caricatures. Edited by award-winning author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, and activist and poet Sara Saleh, and featuring contributors Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Ruby Hamad and Paula Abood, among many others, this collection explores the experience of living as a member of the Arab diaspora in Australia and includes stories of family, ethnicity, history, grief, isolation, belonging and identity. CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE: Paula Abood | Nokomi Achkar | Michael Mohammed Ahmad | Rooan Al Kalmashi | Ryan Al-Natour | Rawah Arja | Hana Assafiri | Sarah Ayoub | Omar Bensaidi | Sara El Sayed | Asma Fahmi | Farid Farid | Ruby Hamad | Abdulrahman Hammoud | Lamisse Hamouda | Amani Haydar | Miran Hosny | Lora Inak | Elias Jahshan | Nicola Joseph and Huna Amweero | Zainab Kadhim and Mohammad Awad | Wafa Kazal | Yassir Morsi

Randa is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at Macquarie University, researching the impact of the generational war on terror on Muslim and non-Muslim youth born into a post 9/11 world. Randa has written eleven books, is working on the film adaptation of her novel Does My Head Look Big in This? and is keen to use her intervention into popular culture to reshape dominant narratives around race. Sara Saleh is a poet and activist. A campaigner for refugee rights and racial justice, she has spent the past decade working with Amnesty International and CARE International in Australia and the Middle East. She is currently completing her Juris Doctor, developing her debut novel and is a proud Bankstown Poetry Slam 'Slambassador'.