Author of Intercultural Fiction and Nonfiction
Seven Short Stories for Young Adults/Adults Addressing Historical & Systemic Anti-Black Racism.
Now available in eBook format from Unsolicited Press and other online distributors.
http://www.unsolicitedpress.com/store/p297/dash.html
Welcome to my website! I want to keep it simple, so I’m only posting information about my current and near term publishing activities on this page. Visit my “About” page for information about past and future projects. Visit Irshad’s Blog (click here or the menu link) to check out a range of literary topics, including recently published articles about Roberto Clemente, Muhammad Yunus, and African American images on coins and medals.
The cover image posted above is of my most recently completed book, Dash: Young Black Refugee & Migration Stories. Through this timely collection of short stories for older teens and adults, I attempt to unveil the legacy of oppression that countless generations of Black Americans have endured. I worked on these stories over a period of about five years, and while most publishers gave the collection scant attention, it was a top ten finalist for the 2018 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction, and was longlisted for the 2017 Santa Fe Writers Project Book Award. The one-page promotional circular linked here provides a brief overview of the book and other data: Dash. Please share it within your social media and other networks!
The first story in the collection, involving a girl and her tribe who are running for their lives from an evil army that forces female captives into sexual slavery, is reminiscent of a modern-day humanitarian refugee crisis in the Middle East, Africa, or South Asia. In a coming-of-age narrative, a teenage boy defies law enforcement by fleeing from his rural home in the dark of night after his parents are lynched for seeking fair labor treatment. A third story is the tale of a multi-ethnic gang of teens who would rather live as a family of outlaws rather than endure the humiliation of racism and poverty. And in yet another, a long-time resident of a gentrifying neighborhood enlists the aid of a newcomer in her quest to fight off eviction for another month.
In each story, I try to juxtapose a modern humanitarian crises, whether domestic or international, against a historical or systemic aspect of Black life in America. I suspect for some the contrasts will be startling, but for many African Americans they are matter-of-fact, though usually silently endured. I don’t consider the stories or their characters as sad. Quite the contrary, these are stories of resistance and resilience for the most part. They are stories of the human condition, the condition of Black life in an all to often hostile society. It is a reality that has made many Black Americans extraordinarily strong and extraordinarily empathetic to the oppressed. If you are so inclined to obtain this book, I hope you find something of benefit in it.
Story Notes at the end of the collection provide background information, discussion questions, and research guides that should support academic, youth group, and book club activities.
DASH! was released as an eBook a few months ago. Preorders for the print edition of DASH!, which will be released April 1st, can now be placed with Unsolicited Press and other outlets. Click on the following links to access the vendor websites that distribute Dash!
Additional vendors can be found via a Google search of the title and author.
Support this publication by sharing within your social media network the promotional circular mentioned above or copying and sharing all or part of the text below.
DASH! Young Black Refugee & Migration Stories
by Irshad Abdal-Haqq
This timely collection of short stories for older teens and adults has been described as “an incredible collection about the legacy of oppression.” Seven tales of desperation and resilience highlight historic and systemic injustices that have discounted the value of Black lives in America. Included Story Notes make it perfect for: · book clubs · virtual schooling · college · diversity studies. #BlackLivesMatter; #booksaboutrace. More details at:
WWW.ABDAL-HAQQ.COM
Please retweet and repost on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
[Release Dates: eBook 8/4/2020; paperback April 2021 (preorder now!) by Unsolicited Press, (Portland, OR). Relevant Twitter comments may be posted on streams about: #BlackLivesMatter and #booksaboutrace.]
Note for “A Seat at the Table” and “Inaugural Interfaith Prayer Service” visitors: Visit Irshad’s Blog (click here or the menu link) if you’re interested in reviewing the reference notes, comments, and photos relating to these two articles. (Islamic Horizons, Jan/Feb 2021, Muslim Journal, Jan. 1, 2021, respectively).