b. al-ism

b. al-ism

b. al-ism is a writer of memoir, prose, poetry and art criticism whose current project, Fabulous, relates their queer coming of age back home and represents a story of family fracture and reconciliation.

Their short story The Runner was awarded a first runner-up prize and published in Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal as part of the Barjeel Art Foundation's Mudun Short Story Prize. Their poem Fa'et was awarded a first place prize by Nasiona Magazine in their inaugural micro nonfiction and poetry competition.

Excerpts of their memoir are published in The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human: Tales from Many Muslim Worlds (Penguin SEA), Emerge: 2018 Lambda Fellows Anthology, and New Moons, an anthology of Muslim writing edited by Kazim Ali (Redhen Press). Fellowships and residencies through Yaddo, La Napoule Foundation, Delfina Foundation, Lambda Literary Retreat, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and 100 West – Corsicana Artist & Writer Residency.

Art criticism published in ArtAsiaPacific Magazine, Ibraaz, Jadaliyya, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, and Columbia Journal of Gender and Law.

Edited publications spotlighting the work of SWANA writers and artists, including For Lives Undone: Gaza Summons Its Writers to Speak (co-edited with Khalid Hadeed), accompanied by talks and public readings at Columbia University and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Also edited publications for Sharjah Art Foundation and Abu Dhabi Music & Art Festival.

Founding member of artist collective GCC, whose work examines the Arab Gulf region's transformations and shifting systems of power. Exhibited at MoMA PS1, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sultan Gallery, The New Museum, The Whitney Biennial, Berlin Biennale IX, and Fridericianum. Collections include Sharjah Art Foundation, Barjeel Art Foundation, Whitney Museum, and Julia Stoschek Collection. Work has been featured in Art in America, Art Forum, the New York Times, Economist, Dazed Digital, artasiapacific, The National, and Mousse Magazine.

An educator with five years teaching high school and university, with extensive experience facilitating writing workshops and fostering writing community.