Na’ima B. Robert.


to some of the women about it and these conversations changed her mind. She describes a “lightbulb moment” when one woman told her she chose to cover “because I want to be judged for what I say and what I do, not for what I look like”. And so now Na’ima is happy to let her stories and actions speak for her, with her latest book A Child Like You marking a departure from her usual style. She says: “This book is different from my others books in that it focuses on the efforts of children and young people to effect societal change. I actually wrote it years ago, but what started out as a story to highlight the challenges faced by children abroad turned into what I hope is a powerful


meditation on the importance of children’s voices being heard. “Society offers young people all sorts of role models but very few of those role models are truly heroic in the classic sense. A hero should be wise, brave, selfless, devoted to the greater good and prepared to sacrifice in order to do the right thing or speak out against what is wrong. The wonderful thing is even a child can embody these qualities!” A Child Like You is inspired by four real- life campaigners – climate activist Greta Thunberg; Marley Dias, who started the #1000BlackGirlBooks; Yusra Mardini, a Syrian member of the Refugee Olympic Team that competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics; Iqbal Masih a child labourer and campaigner from Pakistan who was assassinated in 1993. The book tells the story of how the four young people fight injustice through their actions. It delivers a message that anyone can be a force for positive change.


And speaking of positive change, when


Na’ima is not writing herself, she is helping others to fulfil their potential through the Muslimah Authors Project. She explains: “I know that the main thing that holds women in my community back from writing is fear: fear of being judged, fear of ‘getting it wrong’, fear of success. But perhaps that is the same with all writers? “Through my work as a coach and through our online courses, training and writers’ groups, we work to combat those fears, helping our clients and students


build a positive writer’s mindset and arming them with the knowledge and skills to plan, write and publish their work successfully. We have trained thousands of women now and helped dozens get published, often to critical acclaim. Almost every writing prize shortlist in the Muslim community will feature at least one of our authors – and my team and I are understandably proud of the work that we have done in this space.” A Child Like You by Na’ima B. Robert and illustrated by Nadine Kaadan is available now, published by Otter-Barry Books.


l www.naimarobert.com.


Adding depth and layers – illustration inspired by home


Illustrator and author Nadine Kaadan worked with Na’ima B Robert on A Child Like You, with her art work adding depth to the story. Here she talks to Pen&inc. about her inspiration, authenticity and the power of own-voice stories.


Nadine Kaadan is an illustrator and author who draws inspiration from her culture and heritage. Having grown up in the Syrian capital of Damascus, she moved to the UK 12 years ago and says her books have been a way for her to stay connected to her country. Civil war in Syria has destroyed families, forcing millions to leave their homes – either for safer places in Syria or by seeking refuge in another country.


Spring-Summer 2023


Almost seven million people left the country, looking for safety.


Reminder of home


Nadine says that her writing has been a comfort and a way of reminding herself of the beauty of Damascus – a city with a cultural history that stretches back more than 5,000 years. The Jasmine Sneeze is the first book she published after settling in the UK, and Nadine describes it as “a letter of nostalgia to back home”. She says: “I wrote it a year or two after I moved here, and it was a book that was truly longing for the magic of the city. It doesn’t have anything in it about the war because I wanted to remember the city as the place I grew up in. It’s an ancient and magical city – it has been there for


so long without the war, and that is what I wanted to picture and to remind myself that the war is much shorter compared to how ancient our culture it is.” Nadine says that she often finds inspiration from her memories of Damascus, saying: “It has this beautiful architecture. There are fountains everywhere and trees, with all these little shaded alleyways. It is a really an inspiring place and you can feel that there are hidden tales in every corner in this ancient city.


“When I was a child, I did not read a lot of Arabic books, so I had that inspiration from the place around me – the fountains and the arches have always fascinated me – the scale of them and the contrast in the city of the sunlight and the shadow. The sound


PEN&INC. 17


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