Writers Backstage كٌّتاب خلف الكواليس

In this episode, we focus on different ways and genres that Arab Americans used to express their identity and struggles. Naomi Shihab Nye, a very accomplished Arab American poet, uses the image of the fig tree to recall how her roots are a part of her identity, and one can feel that her father and his attachment to Palestine has a great effect on her as a poet. Huda Fehmy is also a comic strip artist who uses cartoons and, as I call it the comic novel genre, to express the conversation happening about the hijab, being a muslim American and how hard it is to explain to others what the Hijab is and why she chooses to wear it. Normally, Muslim women always get comments on their hijab and the way they wear it, and how it is sometimes considered as an exotic piece. She uses humor to counteract these negative influences and maybe psychologically distressing events that happen to her on a daily basis. whether she is ordering from a restaurant, or just walking outside, her hijab is always a character in her comic strips, which she tries to give life to and validate at the end of the day.