Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Representation: Black Sudanese Australian, immigrant Australians
Trigger warnings: racism, bullying

4/10, I was hoping that after I read a great historical book called Words on Fire I would enjoy this interesting book as well but man this was underwhelming, I had so many issues with this and this is one of the few books that just went by at warp speed which I have a problem with, where do I begin. It begins with the main character Layla as mentioned in the title who is now going to a new school called Mary Maxmillion Grammar School which sounds very prestigious and it is since she got a scholarship there but her first day didn't turn out great. A boy whose name I forgot, and yes he was that forgettable bullied Layla and she responded to that by headbutting him landing her in suspension which I didn't like, I mean it's great that she stood up for herself but it didn't have to go so far. Sometimes I got to see Layla texting her friends and the writing style of this book is just "sighs" hard to get through, irritating at best and straight out cringeworthy at worst mainly because of the slang, emojis and limited vocabulary. Anyways Layla comes back to school and decides to sign up for a robotics competition and thinks of a pneumatic robot made out of gummy worms but it didn't go as expected as Layla forgot to do the paperwork, was forced to join the other robotics team and help them and after all that they only got 2nd place, what a shame. Also, I felt that this book has way too many things packed in like friendships, racism, crushes and coming out so they felt like afterthoughts added in rather than fully explored topics, this should've been a much better book but it wasn't which is sad.… (más)

Abdel-Magied is well known within Australia, even if many would struggle to immediately pin point her.

But if one mentions:
- a certain ANZAC day tweet (lest we forget - Manus, Nauru, Syria ...) in 2017
- an appearance on Q&A when she espoused the view that 'Islam, to me, is one of the most - is the most feminist religion'
- a much viewed TED talk where the author exposes how easy it is to sub-come to stereotypes very easily and unconsciously,
- a controversy surrounding a talk given by Lionel Shriver at the Brisbane Writers festival, to which Abdel-Magied took issue with what was perceived as 'cultural appropriation, identity politics and political correctness',

it is likely that one will know that we are talking about a 30ish Sudanese born, Australian raised/educated mechanical engineer, Young Queenslander of the Year, devout and proud Muslim, media presenter and writer now living in the UK.

Regardless of what one thinks about Abdel-Magied or her thoughts, she was treated appallingly by numerous commentators and members of the public, so much so Abdel-Magied saw no option but to leave Australia. Australia is the poorer for it.

As to this book, it comprises a number of essays, some of which were written at the time of some of these episodes, but also as to other topics. As such, it might be viewed as a snap shot of her intellectual development over that period. There are some interesting biographical vignettes as well, as mentioned, as commentary as to her thinking as to those events and her subsequent reactions.

Many of the essays provide further context to those events, which make some of them more explicable. For example, her Q&A statement, which at the time drew incredulous reactions, simply had no chance of living on its own. But the medium of her essay gives life to and even if a reader is not convinced, any fair reader could not dismiss the argument as a load of nonsense.

Her essay as to the Lionel Shriver episode, to me, demonstrates that both of them were/are (possibly deliberately and/or knowingly) speaking at cross purposes.

Shriver espoused the view it is open for any writer of fiction to write from the perspective anyone, even a person of a different nationality, gender, race, experience. Abdel-Magied denies this, suggesting that such an author is appropriating the culture/experience of such a person. Whilst not mentioned, the recent novel American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, which told the fictional story of a young Mexican mother escaping from gangland violence in Mexico across the US border was surrounded by a lot of controversy with Cummins being accused of exploitation and inaccuracy in her betrayal of both Mexicans and the migrant experience, with Cummins having previously identifying herself as white. The inference is that only those identifying as Mexican and /or immigrants could legitimately write such a novel. This is not to suggest that such people will be more accurate in so writing, but rather that only such people are entitled to write such novels.

I fail to see how any person can be precluded from writing fiction from any perspective they wish. A lack of relevant knowledge or experience may mean that the result lacks coherence or success, but that is a different issue.

But if the argument is different ie that there is a lack of diversity in what is published and/or that publishers should be encouraged to support writing from a wider range of authors, particularly those from minorities, I cannot see any objection to that as well.

If they are really the different contentions of Shriver and Abdel-Magied respectively, that of Shriver seems both innocuous and banal. And that of Abdel-Magied, seems unobjectionable. So why all the heat?

In summary, I hope that we continue to hear from Abdel-Magied in the years ahead, and that her thinking deepens and widens from these early dispatches.

It will be fascinating to see where she goes in her thinking.

Big Ship

27 July 2022… (más)