Dar Aminah Book Club: 10 Year Anniversary
Join Dar Aminah Book Club at The Hat Factory for an evening of bookish chat and poetry performances to celebrate their 10-year anniversary.
We are excited to be hosting an amazing panel of writers and creatives: Dr Sofia Rehman (author of A Treasury of Aisha and contributor to Cut from the Same Cloth? & Gathering: Women of Colour in Nature), Tasneem Abdur-Rashid (author of Finding Mr. Perfectly Fine & The Thirty Before Thirty List), and Samia Aziz (founder of The Diverse Bookshelf Podcast). We will hear about their individual journeys in the world of literature and publishing, and there will be an opportunity for an audience Q&A and book signing too.
We are also delighted to be joined by British-Palestinian spoken word artist, Tasneim Zyada, who will be sharing her beautiful poetry to open the event.
There will be light refreshments provided and arrangements will also be made for prayer time.
If you like books and all things creative, or if you just fancy a chance to meet new people and make friends, then make sure you book your tickets to this event!
Guest Speaker Bios
Dr. Sofia Rehman
Dr Sofia Rehman is an independent scholar specialising in Islam and Gender. She works as a knowledge building consultant for Musawah Movement, a global organisation committed to the reform of Muslim family law in line with gender egalitarian readings of Islam. As a PhD candidate she was a PG Impact Fellow at the Centre of Religion and Public Life and PRHS Scholar.
She is founder of the Islam and Gender read alongs in which she facilitates readings of academic texts penned by Muslim scholars in conversation with a global virtual audience and has been featured by Vogue Arabia, Refinery29 and The Independent. She is the author of A Treasury of Aisha bint Abu Bakr (Kube publishing) and, Gendering the Hadith: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers (Oxford University Press). She is a contributor to Mapping Faith: Theologies of Migration edited by Lia Shimada, Cut From the Same Cloth? Edited by Sabeena Akhtar, Violent Phenomena: 21 Essays on Translation (Tilted Axis), and Gathering: Women of Colour on Nature (404Ink). You can connect with her on her Instagram @Sofia_reading where she talks about all things related to books, faith and academia.
Tasneem Abdur-Rashid
Tasneem Abdur-Rashid is a British Bengali writer born and raised in London. A mother of two, Tasneem has worked across media, PR and communications for over 15 years, in the UK and in the Middle East. She holds a BA and MA in Creative Writing, and her debut rom-com, Finding Mr Perfectly Fine, was published by Bonnier/Zaffre in July 2022 as part of a two-book publishing deal. Back in 2011, Tasneem was the anonymous writer behind the bestselling novel Desperate in Dubai, published by Penguin Random House India. Her most recent book, The Thirty Before Thirty List, was published in July 2024 and she has a Young Adult book due for publication in 2025.
Tasneem is also the co-host of the award-winning podcast, Not Another Mum Pod, which empowers women who feel voiceless with a platform to share their stories. She won coveted SHE Awards award for Arts and Culture 2023 for her commitment towards bringing underrepresented voices to the fore.
You can find Tasneem on Instagram: @tasneemarashid
Tasneim Zyada
A perfectly calm storm on the spoken word scene, Tasneim Zyada is a published Palestinian-British writer and creative freelancer. Her work explores the generational stories that rise to the surface within her own. Having started out in 2015 as a regular performer at London open mics, Tasneim's words have since taken her internationally. She has been featured in several festivals - notably: Shubbak, AWAN, Bloomsbury Festival, PalArt Fest and recently in Athen’s International Video Poetry Festival.
Tasneim's other accolades include facilitating sold out poetry workshops and voice over work - voicing a character in George the Poet's multi-award winning podcast. Currently, Tasneim is writing her debut poetry collection to be published in 2025.
Tasneim Zyada | Writer. Spoken Word Poet. Voice Over Artist.
Let's connect on Instagram and Linked In!
Samia Aziz
By day, Samia is a communications consultant working in the charity sector. She has a keen interest and commitment to social justice and international development. She is an avid reader, and spends a lot of her time reading and reviewing books on her Instagram page, Read With Samia, where she supports authors from under-represented communities. Samia is founder and host of the podcast, The Diverse Bookshelf, where she interviews authors from marginalised backgrounds for a deep-dive into the themes and issues they explore. The podcast has been live for over 2 days, hurtling towards its 100th episode, where she has interviewed well over 75 authors around topics including identity, belonging, representation, history, decolonisation, mental health and grief.
Imrana Mahmood
Imrana Mahmood is a Creative Producer committed to redefining the arts scene and passionate about working with communities at a grassroots level, with a particular focus on Global Majority voices. She is the founder of Dar Aminah Book Club and also hosts The Book Club Show on Inspire FM. Her previous projects include Beyond Borders and Echoes of the Diaspora, and she is currently working within the cultural education sector to improve access to the arts for young people. Imrana completed a programme with Clore Leadership in 2023 and was recently successful in gaining Developing Your Creative Practice funding from Arts Council England. Alongside this, Imrana is a mother of two and in her spare time enjoys reading, hiking, watching movies and eating chocolate.
Website: www.imranamahmood.co.uk | Instagram: @ imr4na.m
