Books

Through his one-man show Since Ali Died, Omar Musa has connected with audiences who have experienced ostracism. The rapper, novelist and poet speaks about the power of storytelling and the need for greater nuance in depictions of the Muslim community. “People come up to me after the show. Firstly, there are people really interested in having direct access to a young Muslim man growing up post-9/11. And then, secondly, there are those who relate to the outsider experience. I talk about a very specific intersection of race and religion – but try to make it relatable to all people who might feel a bit different.”

Jia Tolentino has been dubbed the ‘voice of a generation’, a blogger turned New Yorker writer whose journalistic musings traverse everything from vaping to religion. She talks about the art of literary exploration and her much-anticipated debut book, Trick Mirror. “One of the reasons I write so much is that I’m not so good at thinking about things as they’re happening. Unless I’m writing about something, it’s not often that I’m analytically clear about my own present reality. I tend to just wander through it and hope that I will make sense of it later.”