Episode 100 Notes and Links to Susan Muaddi Darraj’s Work
On Episode 100 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Susan Muaddi Darraj, and the two talk about their shared love for S.E. Hinton and public libraries, in addition to Susan’s history with language and words. They also discuss, among other topics, Susan’s versatile writing and knack for getting inside the heads of her characters and her reading public, her experience with Palestinan-American representation in literature, as well as her award-winning work for adults and middle-graders.
Susan Muaddi Darraj’s short story collection, A Curious Land: Stories from Home, was named the winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, judged by Jaime Manrique. It also won the 2016 Arab American Book Award, a 2016 American Book Award, and was shortlisted for a Palestine Book Award. Her previous short story collection, The Inheritance of Exile, was published in 2007 by University of Notre Dame Press.
In 2018, she was named a Ford Fellow by USA Artists. Susan also is a two-time recipient of an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council. She has also been awarded a Ruby’s Artist Grant from the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance and a grant from the Sustainable Arts Foundation.
In 2019, she launched the viral #TweetYourThobe social media campaign to promote Palestinian culture. Later that year, she was named winner of the Rose Nader Award, by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), an award given by the Nader family to a person who “demonstrates an unwavering dedication and commitment to values of equality and justice.”
In January 2020, Capstone Books launched her debut children’s chapter book series, Farah Rocks, about a smart, brave Palestinian American girl named Farah Hajjar.
Buy Susan Muaddi Darraj's Work
"Memory, home and belonging in 'A Curious Land' "
Susan Muaddi Darraj’s Articles for Middle East Eye
Necessary Fiction’s Review of A Curious Land: Stories from Home
At about 3:00, Pete asks Susan about her childhood relationship with language and reading
At about 8:45, Susan lists and describes some memorable books that have informed her work and that she loved as a kid
At about 10:20, Susan discusses representation and how she felt or didn’t feel represented as an adolescent and beyond; she also describes her groundbreaking series, Farah Rocks
At about 11:55, Susan discusses how “demoralizing” it was in not seeing her experience in what she read as a kid, and the implications of a pertinent quote from Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop
At about 13:20, Susan describes in late high school and college how Naomi Shihab Nye’s Habibi was shocking and transformative for her
At about 14:30, Pete references the Episode 94 kudos and appreciation for Naomi Shihab Nye
At about 15:45, Pete wonders about lack of representation or negative representation for Arab-Americans/Palestinians, and Susan details the negative stereotypes that often lead to/come from Aladdin
At about 18:55, Susan responds to Pete’s question about inspirations and “ “Eureka’ moments” that catapulted her writing career, and she cites writers like Sylvia Plath, bell hooks, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Sandra Cisneros, Isabel Allende, and more
At about 22:50, Pete inquires about Susan’s relationship with Richard Wright’s work
At about 23:55, Susan details her college experience and her parents’ view of her studies; she references common career expectations in Arab-American/immigrant communities and how she began to write as she taught literature
At about 28:30, Susan references #5amwritersclub and Maya Angelou’s philosophy about early morning writing
At about 29:35, Pete asks Susan about who she’s reading now; she shouts out S.K. Ali, Aisha Saeed, Hena Khan, and Saadia Faruqi
At about 31:00, Susan describes the excellence of poetry that draws her back, including T.S. Elliott’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
At abo
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