If They Come for Us - Fatimah Asghar

Category: Adults, Contemporary, Poetry
Language: English
Keywords: Adult Contemporary Feminism LGBT Nonfiction Pakistan Poetry Queer Race

Written by Fatimah Asghar
Read by Fatimah Asghar
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 32 Kbps
Unabridged

“A debut poetry collection showcasing both a fierce and tender new voice.” (Booklist)

“Elegant and playful…The poet invents new forms and updates classic ones.” (Elle)

Named one of the top 10 books of the year by the New York Public Library.

Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award

An aunt teaches me how to tell an edible flower from a poisonous one. Just in case, I hear her say, just in case.

From a co-creator of the Emmy-nominated web series Brown Girls comes an imaginative, soulful debut poetry collection that captures the experiences of being a young Pakistani Muslim woman in contemporary America.

Orphaned as a child, Fatimah Asghar grapples with coming of age and navigating questions of sexuality and race without the guidance of a mother or father. These poems at once bear anguish, joy, vulnerability, and compassion, while also exploring the many facets of violence: how it persists within us, how it is inherited across generations, and how it manifests itself in our relationships. In experimental forms and language both lyrical and raw, Asghar seamlessly braids together marginalized people’s histories with her own understanding of identity, place, and belonging.

Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
Release date: 08-07-18