Fatimah Asghar

A bookstagram friend recommended this to me for the anthology prompt for #QueerYourYear (one of the few recs my library actually had) and I am so glad they did!

First of all, I love the concept for this anthology, poems and essays by "Muslims who are women, queer, genderqueer, nonbinary, and/or trans." And there was a great line in the introduction , describing the writers included here as representing the "sheer cacophony of Muslimness." A fantastic line, and one I carried forward with me as show more I read, that shaped and enhanced my experience of the collection. The diversity of identities here is truly intersectional, not just along gender and orientation lines, but also immigrants from Muslim countries alongside American converts to Islam, Arab Muslims, Black Muslims, Muslims whose faith and identities are shaped by many languages and cultures.

I was delighted to find a few authors I was already familiar with in this anthology, as well as discovering a few new to me whose other collections I have now looked up and added to my endless to-read list.

I had so many favorites. From "An Introduction" by Sheena Raza Faisal:

my god wakes up with bed head
and sticky fingers, doesn't
want to go in to work today

From "Confession" by Leila Chatti

Truth be told, I like Mary a little better
when I imagine her like this, crouched
and cursing, a boy-God pushing on
her cervix

From "Any Other Name" by Khadijah Queen

I don't see any prophets around,
do you? If so, pass out my number
tell him I said what's up

where have you been all my life. I know it's a line
but people like familiar things
like fellow boring straight people

........

I love that this collection starts with the poetry and ends with a section of essays.

The sheer cacophony of Muslimness. This is an excellent introduction to it. show less

Fatimah Asghar’s If They Come For Us: Poems examines the 1947 partitioning of India into the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan, later the Republic of India, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. She uses poetry to discuss the division of people by ethnicity, religion, and language and its lingering effects (p. 37, 65, 89) as well as her experiences of gender in a Muslim community linked to India, the worldwide ummah, and the West (p. 47, 53, show more 78). These poems touch on an embodied reality that contains multitudes. Discussing her memory for words, Asghar writes, “Can’t blame/me for taking a good idea./I collect words where I find them” (p. 50). In returning to her theme, she concludes, “…my country is made/in my people’s image/if they come for you they/come for me too…” (p. 100). An excellent collection of poetry examining the diasporic experience of those from southwest Asia and the complexities of their identities. show less

Asghar brings to life the complexities of their personal histories alongside the horrors (past and present) of the Partition with vivid, provocative imagery and thought-provoking storytelling. I struggled at times with some of their choices around phrasing and meter but ultimately quite enjoyed this collection. I look forward to reading more of their work.

Promising. Which means I look forward to this author doing much better things than this not-so-good thing. The poems here are just fine but they feel very young, like someone newly flexing their writing muscles. Several poems read like they may have started as class assignments. The poems feel formulaic, expected, predictable, as if you've read them before, but they were better then.

Part of the problem may be that I've seen Asghar grouped so often with Danez Smith, whose work is show more breathtaking; my expectations were high. Asghar does have a lovely ear for language and, like Audre Lorde or June Jordan, an acute way of blending the personal and political. I hope she continues working at her craft; I'd like to see where she goes next. show less