A podcast with interesting guests and hard-hitting questions, hosted by journalist and writer Leila Mekhdi
Zahra Hankir is a Lebanese journalist, editor, and author born in the United Kingdom, raised in Lebanon, and now living in Brooklyn. Zahra's journalistic work ranges from politics to culture and beyond. As an Arab woman and a journalist, after spending seven years working at Bloomberg News in Dubai and London, she decided to amplify the voices of Arab women reporting from the Arab world. That's how Our Women on the Ground, a collection of 19 essays written by 19 talented and brave women journalists and edited by Zahra, was published and became a major success. This month (November 2023) Zahra's new book Eyeliner is coming out as a celebration of marginalized communities and their beauty traditions that are more than just about beautifying oneself. And of course, we spoke about the ongoing suffering of Palestinian people and how Zahra's Egyptian-Lebanese family history is deeply connected to Palestine.
Mary Efendi is an Azerbaijani-American writer, whose debut novel I Sat Alone by the Gate became an instant success and a bestseller. In this episode we spoke about Mary's experience of living in the US, post 9/11, as a Muslim woman, and how moving from Baku at the age of 18 changed the trajectory of her life. Due to I Sat Alone by the Gate being a semi-autobiographical novel, with some events fictionalized, in this podcast I ask Mary about her immigrant experience that I became all to familiar with after reading her novel. We talked about Mary's current writing projects, her move back to Baku, and the reality of getting a book published. Additionally, this conversation reflects our common Azerbaijani heritage, as well as stereotypes that people from other former Soviet Republics can relate to. Finally, if this episode made you want to find out more about the complex cultural phenomena we discussed, may it be a sign for you to read Mary's debut novel, I Sat Alone by the Gate, if you haven't yet.