Edited by: Aisha Saeed and S.K. Ali
Illustrator: Sara Alfageeh
Anthology Contributions by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow: “Perfect” and “Eid Pictures”
Publisher: Amulet/ Abrams Books (May 5, 2020)
ISBN: 9781419740831
A joyous short story collection by and about Muslims, edited by New York Times bestselling authors Aisha Saeed and William C. Morris Award finalist S.K. Ali, Once Upon an Eid showcases the most brilliant Muslim voices writing today, all about the most joyful holiday of the year: Eid!
Video of Anthology Authors
In this acclaimed anthology about tweens celebrating Muslim holidays, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow has contributed a short story and poem.
“Perfect,” by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, is about Hawa, a half-African American, half-Guinean/Mandinka girl, failing to be “perfect” when visiting her West African relatives in the Bronx for Eid.
“Eid Pictures,” is a poem tracing the history of Black American Muslim Eid celebrations in the U.S.
My two contributions to this anthology capture my experiences as a bicultural Black Muslim. “Perfect” is loosely based on my experiences of celebrating the Eid holiday as a child by visiting my West African family members in the Bronx and feeling out of place. “Eid Pictures” is an ode to my African American Muslim side and our heritage and history.
“The diversity within the collection is impressive, including several blended families and a recently converted one, and while the writing varies in style and quality, each story is engaging, full of emotion and thought. Particularly powerful are Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow’s poem connecting present-day Eid scenes to imaginings of the early Muslims who arrived in the Americas enslaved and Hanna Alkaf’s lyrical account of a Malay girl’s attempt to save Eid for her family.…” – From Kirkus (Starred Review)
