On this week’s show, I’m speaking to Palestinian-American writer, Sahar Mustafah about identity, writing, survivor’s guilt, and the current war on Gaza which has led to the killing of over 14,000 Palestinian men, women and children. Her book, The Beauty of Your Face is a stunning family tale of a young woman finding herself and her faith, as she explores her own identity. 

The daughter of immigrants, Sahar Mustafah explores her Palestinian heritage in her writing. She earned her MFA in Fiction from Columbia College where she was a Follett Graduate Scholar. Mustafah is a Willow Books Grand Prize Winner for Code of The West, was named one of the 25 Writers to Watch by The Guild Literary Complex of Chicago, and is a member of Voices Protest and Radius of Arab American Writers. Her debut novel, The Beauty of Your Face, was named a The New York Times Book Review Notable Books of 2020 and a Finalist for the 2021 Palestine Book Award. It was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Award and chosen for Los Angeles Times “United We Read.” Mustafah writes and teaches outside of Chicago.

The Beauty of Your Face tells a uniquely American story in powerful, evocative prose. Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is the principal of a Muslim school in the Chicago suburbs. One morning, a shooter--radicalized by the online alt-right--attacks the school. As Afaf listens to his terrifying progress, we are swept back through her memories, and into a profound and "moving" (Bustle) exploration of one woman's life in a nation at odds with its ideals.

Buy The Beauty of Your Face, here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-beauty-of-your-face-shortlisted-for-the-palestine-book-award-2021-sahar-mustafah/1261005?ean=9781789559736

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