Corpus

So it turns out that I’m not just an aspiring new author, but a kind of come-back author, I suppose. I was published before in poetry anthologies as a teenager. And I illustrated part of a book as an elementary student! Once upon a time, I was also the editor-in-chief of a computer-printed teen zine. Nearly forgotten, I’ve been on a scavenger hunt to locate my lost corpus! So here’s to a comeback, with a little flashback!

(NOTE: Click on the title of the poem, article, or illustration to see my actual work).

RECENT WORKS

Guest Blogs

Abdullah, W.B. (2017). Just Let Me Bee: On Finding Your Creative Niche. Daybreak Press Blog. Retrieved from http://www.rabata.org/weaversofstories/

Abdullah, W.B. (2017). Writing Authentically. Daybreak Press Blog. Retrieved from http://www.rabata.org/writing-authentically-by-w-b-abdullah/

Abdullah, W.B. (2014). 30 first dates: 13 years on. Rabata Blog. Retrieved from http://rabata.org/home/30-first-dates-13-years-on/

Abdullah, W.B. (2012). In memory of hands. Silver Envelope. Retrieved from http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=c3ce927a31695647a30c29ada&id=5523f93966/

Articles

Abdullah, W.B. (2012). Let’s make cloud art! Discover Magazine, 2, 22-23.

Abdullah, W.B. (2012). A journey to Jerusalem. Azizah Magazine, 6(4), 90-96.

Media Reviews

Abdullah, W.B. (2014). Surrendering to God: Understanding Islam in the Modern Age by Eren Tatari [Book Review].Azizah Magazine. 7(4), 24.

Abdullah, W.B. (2013). Aisha: The Wife, the Companion, the Scholar by Reşit Haylamaz [Book Review].Azizah Magazine. 7(4), 25.

Abdullah, W.B. (2013). Thoughts That Don’t Rhyme written by Marwa Farouq [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine. 7(2), 26.

Abdullah, W.B. (2012, September). The Breath of God by Julie Hliboki [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine Online Bookshelf. Retrieved from http://www.azizahmagazine.com/Articles/Article_Bookshelf_The%20Breath%20of%20God.html

Abdullah, W.B. (2012). The Metamorphosis of a Muslim by Lena Seder [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine. 7(1), 24.

Abdullah, W.B. (2012). Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine. 7(1), 25.

Abdullah, W.B. (2012). Untold by Tamam Kahn [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine. 6(4), 26.

Abdullah, W.B. (2012). Hearts we lost by Umm Zakiyyah [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine. 6(4), 27.

Abdullah, W.B. (2011). Barefoot in Baghdad by Manal Omar [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine, 6(3), 30.

Abdullah, W.B. (2011). The butterfly mosque by G. Willow Wilson [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine, 6(3), 28.

Abdullah, W.B. (2011, April 5). Mooz-lum: A Muslim man’s portrayal of strong Muslim women [Review of the movie Mooz-lum]. Muslimah Media Watch. Retrieved from http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mmw/2011/04/mooz-lum-a-muslim-man%E2%80%99s-portrayal-of-strong-muslim-women/#more-7964

Abdullah, W.B. (2011). Love in a headscarf by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine, 6(2), 27.

Abdullah, W.B. (2011). The size of a mustard seed by Umm Juwayriyah [Book Review]. Azizah Magazine, 6(2), 26.

EARLIER WORKS

Poetry

Brown, W. (2001). The laundress. In A celebration of young poets: Atlantic-Fall 2000 (p.7). Logan, UT: Creative Communication, Inc.

I am featured on the second page of this poetry anthology, and I’d like to think that that’s only due to alphabetical name order ;).

Brown, W. (2000). Voices from the seams. In D.L. Gaston (Ed.), Urban inkslingers (pp.22-23). Washington, DC: National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Now, this book doesn’t have an ISBN number, but a long time ago, no books had ISBN numbers, right?! Since it smells, feels, and is bound like a book, I’m calling it published work! I participated in a literary series/workshop at the National Museum of Women in the Arts for high school students. I even had a little biography published on page 7. I said then that I wanted a career in Biotechnology. Look how that turned out! 😛 But I did say I wanted to be a writer…

Alvarez, J., Choi, M. J., Lazo, L., Jorgensen, S., Nguyen, H., Perez, J., . . . Brown, W. (2000). Renga: The end of the workshop. In D.L. Gaston (Ed.), Urban inkslingers (p.54). Washington, DC: National Museum of Women in the Arts.

*NOTE: A renga is a Japanese form of poetry wherein many different poet contribute haikus talking about a single theme. This renga was composed with my favorite author in high school Julia Alvarez. My part of the renga is highlighted by a red arrow. Click on “Renga” for the first half of the renga, and “The end of the workshop” for the second half. Read the intro for more information on what and why we wrote.

Brown, W. (1999). And you wonder? In The Do the Write Thing sixth annual challenge program anthology. Washington, DC: Do The Write Thing Program.

Okay, okay, this is also not really a published book. You can’t find it on Amazon.com or anything, BUT I was a school finalist as an eighth grader! The Do the Write Thing Program is a part of the National Campaign to Stop Violence (NCSV), an initiative of the Kuwait-America Foundation and the Greater Washington Urban League. Who would’ve known then that I would return to an awards ceremony for the new poet laureates in training as a teacher-in-training, straight off the boat from Kuwait as a Muslim seven years later? Things surely come around circle!

*This is also a two part poem, click on “And” for the first part, and “you wonder?” for the second part.

Illustrations

Simmons, L. A. (1996). Meet Kofi, Maria, and Sunita: Family life in Ghana, Peru, and India (W. Brown, Illus.). Peterborough,NH: Cobblestone Publishing Inc.

This multicultural book was commissioned by the World Bank and helps children understand the importance of economic development. It was winner of the 1996 EdPress Special Publication Award. In a way, this book was a preview into my later career choices in Art Education and International Affairs. But I did not know I wanted to do that then. I wanted to be an environmentalist in elementary school (and that storyline is now creeping up in my daily life as I turned into a “green” monster)! I illustrated the section of the book on Ghana: Kofi’s story. This book was published when I was in 6th grade.  😀

FORTHCOMING (inshAllah) & CURRENT PROJECTS

Currently, I #amwriting. I had been spending a lot of time developing curriculum and illustrating, but now I’m nursing my own need to get the stories in my head out so that you may read them. There are quite a few stories simultaneously percolating and telling themselves to me. Additionally, I’m developing posts for other blogs, but am retiring my artsy-crafty-mama blog that was launched in February 2012. I’d rather you get all of me on one platform. Still, you can check it out here: Good AfterNoora (the blog stayed in its newborn stage)! InshAllah, soon, you will find a category entitled Books up there with a list of beautiful stories to cherish.