The FBC Paris

It’s Not About the Burqa is an essential read if you are interested in hearing from Muslim womxn themselves about their day to day lives and it comes with the added bonus of forcing all readers to check their privilege.

We first spoke of It’s Not About the Burqa last year and to celebrate the release of the PB, today we’re sharing an insightful conversation between Lou and Mariam Khan at the back end of last year. We discuss the constant policing of Muslim womxn - not just by the Patriarchy but by other women - to reiterate the need for nuanced conversations around Muslim feminists.

We also discuss the inability of people to see beyond the hijab: to not listen and to automatically assume that Muslim womxn have no agency, no opinion, no right to be a feminist…and so on. Mariam shares how INATB came to be in the world - from the idea to vocalising the idea to getting a publishing deal and then the emotional work that comes with going on a press tour.

Mariam provides some great references throughout the discussion, which we have linked to below:

• France’s Burqa Ban Enforcing Not Solving Inequality (Open Society)

• Rife: Twenty Stories from Britain’s Youth

• Nikesh Shukla 

• Amaliah: a website “…dedicated to amplifying the voices of Muslim women”.

• Amaliah Podcast

Happy listening! Hope you go and order the PB of It’s Not About the Burqa.

En cherchant des livres pour enfants LGBT dans une librairie du 11ème arrondissement de Paris, je rencontre Lina Pasquet. Coup de foudre intellectuel : elle m’apprend que son mémoire de fin d’études porte sur les représentations de l'homosexualité dans les romans pour adolescents contemporain. Je prends son contact et conviens d’une interview.

Aux vues des publications qui ornent les rayons des librairies, aussi engagées soient-elles, la littérature jeunesse tisse un lien étroit et dangereusement consensuel avec le système éducatif français, et tous les carcans normatifs qui l’accompagne. Pour mieux comprendre ce marché, ses intentions comme ses vieux démons, il nous a paru pertinent de partager avec vous ce soir, les recherches de notre brillante et passionnée libraire, Lina. 

Aujourd’hui, c’est le mythe de la parisienne qui a retenu notre attention. Alice Pfeiffer, journaliste, publie son tout premier essai au titre aussi parlant que déstabilisant : Je ne suis pas parisienne, éloge de toutes les françaises.

Dans ce premier ouvrage, elle dépeint sans concession le portrait de cette créature mystique et fantasmée par le monde : la so-called parisienne. Blanche, belle, mince, hétéro, bien née, et bien maquée, figure emblématique du chic et de l’élégance maitrisée dans un naturel des plus exquis, Alice Pfeiffer tente de mieux comprendre cette femme-objet de consommation idéalisée par toutes les industries qui manque à l’appel de la réalité.  Pour en parler, on rencontre ce soir Alice. 

In Part 2, Zeba and Lou talk about taking control of the narrative when it comes to U.K. attitudes towards the Muslim community; how Zeba learnt to stand up for herself in the face of people's ignorance surrounding her faith; the importance of editors who will do the emotional work with you.

- Follow Zeba on Instagram for great book recommendations and reviews

- Long Live The Tribe of the Fatherless Girls

- Supper Club

- We Have Always Been Here

- Let Me Tell You This

Today I’m talking to Zeba Talkhani, author of the recently published memoir My Past Is A Foreign Country: A Muslim Feminist Finds Herself. In this honest and insightful book, Zeba writes with clarity and vulnerability - no topic is off the table. We discover her experience with hair loss, which started when Zeba was a teenager, the complicated relationship with her mother, a thirst for education and the tension that caused amongst her family and friends. She also shares with us her journey to aligning her Muslim faith with her feminist beliefs, growing up in Saudia Arabia, as well as finding love on her own terms.

Born in 1991 in Sirsi, South India, Zeba has already packed so much into her 28 years. Getting her life experience down on paper is an opportunity that she clearly took seriously - growing up, Zeba was painfully aware of the lack of representation in the books she read and so felt a responsibility towards younger generations who may be suffering in silence like her. Today, Zeba is based in London and on top of being a published author, she’s a production editor at Bloomsbury publishing house.

Books mentioned:

- My Past Is A Foreign Country

- Rife: Twenty-One Stories from Britain’s Youth

- Chez Soi

- Commencement