Uzma Jalaluddin

Uzma Jalaluddin is a Canadian writer.

Quotes

 * Writing a book is so strange. You start off in one spot and end up in another. But I think when I first set out to write the book, there was a certain element of trying to right historical wrongs I saw as a voracious reader and representation of immigrants and children of immigrants…
 * On what led her to write Ayesha At Last in “Interviews with authors at EMWF: Uzma Jalaluddin” in The Ontarion (2018 Sep 13)


 * As a writer, my primary responsibility to readers is to write a story that is entertaining, and authentic. I wanted to write about characters who felt true to life, while also providing a way for readers to laugh at the foibles of others. Some of my characters are foolish, some are wise and kind, others are shallow and misguided. That’s how regular people behave too, and in fact we all cycle between many different ways of being…
 * On writing characters in “Interviews with authors at EMWF: Uzma Jalaluddin” in The Ontarion (2018 Sep 13)


 * …most stories about Muslims contain negative stereotypes that reinforce xenophobic, one-sided narratives that can cause real harm to vulnerable populations. I hope that more stories about Muslims, or Hindus, or Buddhists, etc., set in the West, will help readers understand immigrant communities better, but most importantly will also allow those immigrant communities to see themselves as worthy of being featured in all types of stories, not just highly politicized ones…
 * On writing stories that feature Muslim characters in daily life in “Interviews with authors at EMWF: Uzma Jalaluddin” in The Ontarion (2018 Sep 13)


 * … I started writing it in 2010 and we weren’t as interested in stories about diversity back then. People told me I should set it in the United States, but I said no, it’s a second-generation Canadian story. It’s a unique and specific story. I wrote it anyway because it interested me. I thought, “Maybe I’ll be amusing myself at the very least.”
 * On her novel Ayesha at Last in “AN INTERVIEW WITH UZMA JALALUDDIN, AUTHOR OF AYESHA AT LAST, THIS SUMMER’S MUST-READ BOOK” in She Does The City (2018 Jul 16)