We are back!
Re-introducing Qalb Writers Collective
Hello and Salaam my friends!
It’s been a long while – thank you so much for sticking with me.
Last year brought with it a lot, and I’m still navigating some of those changes. Since our last post, I have completed my Masters, graduated, started a full-time job, moved cities, re-launched my editorial services AND QALB has also grown from a one-woman band to a team of four (woop woop!). I am immensely grateful to my team for taking time out to build QALB with me, and I’m so excited for all that we have in store for you.
Qalb Writers Collective is more than a newsletter. It’s a home for Muslim women trying to find their place in the literary community. Our focus this year is on building and fostering community as well as catering to your needs. Here’s a glimpse of what you can expect from us:
Newsletter
We’ll be hitting your inbox on Fridays as usual, sharing a range of content including craft + publishing posts, resources, reviews, author interviews, literature and art by Muslim women.
Feel free to drop a comment if there are any authors you’d like us to feature on the newsletter.
Submit to us
You can now submit your fiction, creative essays, interviews and poetry to us. We are currently working on our submissions page, and will be sharing more details in a future post. In the meantime, if you have a piece you’re eager to share with us, you can send it to qalbwriterscollective [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject: SUBMISSION: genre + * title of piece*.
QALB Book Club
I’ve always loved the idea of reading and discussing books with people, but I also know how difficult it can be to find time for everyone to connect. With QALB Book Club, we’ll be reading one book across the span of a month with weekly discussions taking place here on Substack. At the start of each week, we’ll share a few questions inspired by our reading to kickstart the conversation, and you can take part via the comments section. By the end of the reading month, we plan to host a virtual session with the author for a rich discussion.
Our first book is ‘The Muslim (M)other’ by
– a previous contributor to our newsletter. Having had several opportunities to work with Mariya, during my time as Head of Editorial at Amaliah, I’m so excited to see her book out in the world . I am looking forward to the discussions ‘The Muslim (M)other’ will open up and I cannot wait for us to delve into it.We’ll also be sending across a separate email with more details regarding QALB Book Club and how you can be a part of it.
Social Media
We’ve been pretty active on Instagram, all thanks to our Social Media Manager. We spotlight books by Muslim women on Mondays, share writing prompts on Wednesdays and feature a story from the newsletter on Fridays. Kindly head over to our Instagram to show us some love, and if there are any books or authors you think we should be shouting out, feel free to share in the comments or drop us a DM.
I hope you’re as excited as we are to be in your inbox again. If you have any questions for us, feel free to share in the comments, email us or DM us via Substack/Instagram. We always love hearing from you.
Wishing you a blessed, restorative and fulfilling weekend ahead!
Love and duas,
Suad from Qalb Writers Collective