Especially when things are really funny! Like when you had a chip on your shoulder and you made a terrible mistake, a faux pas, and then life has a way of circling around back at you, as if to nod and say, “It’s okay.” That’s what happened to me today. About twenty years ago, when […]

Never heard of this concept until I spoke to someone in the biz and she mentioned it and then I looked it up. It’s a feminist term that basically articulates the nagging feeling of condescension that many women of color feel from our white feminist colleagues. It’s the feeling that the only way they would […]

Sometimes I look back over the places I’ve been and the conferences and festivals I’ve had the privilege of attending and I get a bit nostalgic. Singapore, Mexico, Iran, Pakistan, India, Denmark, Sharjah, Italy! The list goes on! Wow! I’ve really been a LOT of places! I remember the trips so fondly! Although at the […]

So all that I’ve written so far is the preamble to the big event, the one that I was actually invited to keynote: Children’s Literature Festival in Karachi. The Children’s Literature Festival is an initiative begun by two very dedicated ladies: Baela Raza Jamil and Ameena Saiyid (the head of Oxford University Press) trying to […]

February 18th, A private school and the High Commissioner of Canada! I’ll never forget the presentations on this day! These kids were a lot older, I’d say close to fourteen and fifteen, and they understood English!!! You could see it on their faces! I first met this girl, so pretty masha Allah, with such a […]

First I must apologize for not blogging for so long. It was due to health issues and circumstances beyond my control. Here’s what I wrote while on tour:   February 16, Islamabad, Pakistan I think the most singular advantage I might have is the storytelling background. There’s something about my training as a storyteller that […]

I can’t help getting nervous before a big trip! There’s worrying about the physical toll the travel will have on me! (I’m not getting any younger!) And then when I arrive, it’s only natural that I’m worried a little about my safety. Just a few weeks ago there was an attack in the North western […]

One of the things I’ve been worried about with the Syrian crisis and everything is what if, as happened in Sweden, a refugee commits a crime or even expresses an ‘ungrateful’ sentiment. People are very fickle. And sometimes people in difficult circumstances are at the end of their patience and might not express themselves in […]

And I’m already feeling nostalgic. I’ve come to know so many of the people, the kids, the teens, the adults, the seniors. In each program there are a few people that have really stood out! I look at the progress I’ve seen in the teenagers from the time they first started the public speaking program. […]

I had been dreading this week! Six days, non-stop. Not easy. I’m still processing it. On Monday I visited a small town outside Toronto. No Muslims in the school that I could see, only one or two brown kids! Part of me wondered if they’d cancel, considering the devastating attacks in Paris the Friday before. […]