By On Thursday, May 4, PEN America hosted a live Twitter chat with three Muslim-American women writers—most notably Marvel comics editor and Ms. Marvel co-creator Sana Amanat and Dr. Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, activist and author of the book “Muslim Cool: Race, Religion and Hip Hop in the United States.” Using the hashtag #MuslimWomenWrite, the discussion touched on many of the heavy-hitting issues that Muslim female authors face in the literary world. Here’s a roundup of some of the best tweets:
1. Marvel Comics editor Sana Amanat’s take on how her identity as a Muslim-American influences her storytelling.
2. This tweet that shows how much we need diverse stories and novels by Muslims, for Muslims.
3. And this tweet that reminds us that we have yet to achieve the aforementioned diversity in the literary world.
4. This unfortunate truth.
5. Author Su’ad Abdul Khabeer’s take on what we need from Muslim women writers.
6. Muslim women need to write complex stories that represent real experiences.
7. This struggle that all Muslim women writers face.
8. This bad habit that we need to break as writers.
9. And this important reminder from our very own Maysoon Khatib.
10. Dr. Abdul Khabeer’s message to editors and publishing companies.
11. Again. Diversity. Diversity. DIVERSITY.
