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Thawra is an online literary magazine that provides a platform for minority creatives. From budding short story authors to critical academic writers, we want to amplify the talented voices throughout the BAME community. Thawra is here to elevate people who for so long have been unable to assert their presence, their thoughts, their art, and the way they see the world.

We're here for a revolution, and what's a revolution without its poets and artists?

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Every penny will help us run Thawra and provide you with quality content, as well as allowing us to plan for future endeavours such as creative workshops, events and one day a podcast.

Part 3 of a 4 Part Series: Literature is Still Catering for The Orientalist Gaze

White Saviour Complex and The Muslim Woman

White men saving brown women from brown men. Thank you, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. This is the narrative that has haunted Muslim women for decades within widely acclaimed literature. Where is her agency? Can the ignorance of tropes fix the ignorance of culture? Where do white women stand in the equation? Join Asia Khatun as she explores the harmful positions Muslim women have been put in due to colonialism, Orientalism and white saviour complex.

REVIEW: The Girl with the Louding Voice

APRIL

This coming-of-age story set in Nigeria features Adunni, our fourteen-year old protagonist and the first-person narrator of this story. We follow her as she seeks an education and independence, something her late mother instilled in her. However, after her mother’s death, she is coerced into marrying a much older man. 

Daré does well to show a strong, young girl who is determined to build a better life for herself and genuine relationships, despite living in a culture designed to keep her from succeeding.

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ART

APRIL

Check out Hanifa Abdul Hameed's inspiring digital art pieces!

Merging her South Asian heritage with her American identity, her

work portrays her love for

colour, strong women,

fashion, and culture.

Part 2 of a 3 Part Series

Three Countries and Me; Let's Talk Identity

Part Two of Anisa Akhter's piece explores the dynamics of being a brown-skinned, visible Muslim who is only seen as a mamu (immigrant) in Finnish society.

ART

APRIL

THAWRA'S POETRY PICK OF THE MONTH

APRIL

Well done, Masuma Sultana! The East London based poet wrote Commoner to explore issues around race, immigration,  discrimination and identity in the speaker's personal, educational and professional life.

Have a read!

ART

MARCH

Check out Raha Esmaeili's Persian collections! Connecting the diaspora back to their history one painting at a time.

Part 1 of a 3 Part Series

Three Countries and Me; Let's Talk Identity

Finland, Bangladesh and the UK? Join Anisa Akhter as she describes what it was like growing up juggling different cultures.

Part 2 of a 4 Part Series

Literature is Still Catering for The Orientalist Gaze: Muslim Masculinity and Violence

Masculinity: traditionally an attribute that shapes the way we see our male leads, harbouring many cultural norms and tells – one being the connection between masculinity and violence. Unfortunately, where this is exacerbated is on the matter of Muslim masculinity and its connection with violence, which has become a common trope within literature, and exponentially in any form of media since 9/11.

SHORT STORY

MARCH

THAWRA'S POETRY PICK OF THE MONTH

MARCH

Well done, Farzana Ali! Her poem, can you see the moon?, moves through the physical and emotional stages of loss where the moon is one's only confidant. This poem may have made us shed a tear or two... Have a read!

ART

MARCH

REVIEW: The Blinding Absence of Light

MARCH

Based on the true recounts, This Blinding Absence of Light is a window into the suffering of the fictional Salim, who in 1971 took part in a failed coup to overthrow King Hassan II of Morocco. Despite claiming to have had no prior knowledge of the plot, Salim was sentenced to 10 years in prison and secretly transferred to a hidden desert ‘tomb’ where he remained for 18 years.

This novel is intensely moving, one that shows how one may find solace in God even when the body and the mind are at breaking point.

POETRY 

MARCH

Part 1 of a 4 Part Series

Literature is Still Catering for The Orientalist Gaze

This narrative of stereotyping Muslims as the ‘Other’ and as terrorists has been reinforced by every medium, from print media to television to literary fiction – all of which come together in mobilising the minds of Western citizens as they elect their chosen representatives who carry out their foreign policy interests. 

Les Femmes Du Maroc by Lalla Essaydi

Halima Aden Exposes Fashion's Illusive Promise of Diversity

FEBRUARY

The first hijab-wearing model on the cover of Sports Illustrated, appearances on the Burberry catwalk... With a glowing track record, she had set herself on a rapidly-moving upwards trajectory,

but now the model has made the decision to remove herself from

the industry.

THAWRA'S POETRY PICK OF THE MONTH

FEBRUARY

Well done, Aysel Dilara Kasap! Her poem, Home, n., speaks of her experience as a Turkish Cypriot in London having to move back to Cyprus in the midst of the pandemic. We found it eerily awesome and the words beautifully placed. Have a read!

ART

FEBRUARY

Check out Haseebah Ali's unique lino print collections!

CRITICAL REVIEW: Twilight of Democracy

FEBRUARY

A melange of the political and the personal, the book takes us behind the curtain of the demagogues of the past and the present, as well as the motivations of their supporters. Starting in Poland, but swiftly travelling across Europe and the USA, Applebaum name drops her famous friends and provides details her conversations with them. It is precisely this “insider account” which is makes the book unique and fascinating, but also lends itself to some criticism.

Brown Skin Girl

FEBRUARY

This coloniser complex, this love-hate relationship with whiteness creates an irresolvable complex – to be white or not to be white? It's only in the past decade where I have slowly seen a mass change in attitudes surrounding colourism and racism. In the Western world, I believe a large part of it is because of how far the black empowerment movements have progressed in educating a society that was hellbent on miseducating itself.

SHORT STORY

FEBRUARY

Check out The Seven Leaves by Asia Khatun. A harrowing tale about a young boy set in Yemen.

ART

FEBRUARY

Check out Rawdhat Juma's spiritually-inspired artwork.

POETRY 

FEBRUARY

REVIEW: The City of Brass

FEBRUARY

The first in the Daevabad trilogy, this book is told from the perspectives of two characters: Nahri and Alizayd. Nahri, an orphaned con artist in 18th century Cairo, summons a Djinn and learns the truth about her past. Ali is a prince of Daevabad, conflicted between his own morals and faith. As we travel with Nahri through danger-filled expeditions and watch Ali navigate political and moral dilemmas, the extent of the Chakraborty’s commitment to constructing this world is revealed.