Conversation With Author Hena Khan
All of our voices matter – this is the takeaway that author Hena Khan emphasized in today’s Conversation With. Hena is an author of children/young adult books. While she has written books on a variety of topics for publishers, her personal works tend to focus on Muslim kids in America, with themes of finding who you are, family relationships, and friends. The students have been reading Hena’s book Amina’s Voice, a novel about a Muslim girl in middle school grappling with fitting in and her changing relationship with her best friend.
When Hena was a kid, she read many books from her local library in Rockville, MD. However, she was never able to see herself in the books she read; none of the characters were like her. A child of two Pakistani immigrants, Hena would write a family newspaper she called the Khanicles. Looking back as an adult, she noticed her newspaper never touched on the parts of her family that reflected her family’s culture. When Hena had a son, she wanted him to grow up with what she didn’t have – books that represent people like him. Hena said, “When people are ignorant about things, they can be easily mislead with misinformation… I believe in the power of stories to show that people aren’t that different”.
As always, the TCS students asked some probing, insightful questions. Many students thanked her for writing the book, because they wouldn’t normally be exposed to this kind of narrative. They also discussed the publishing process, what it’s like financially to be a professional author, and the experience of having your story edited by others. Hena expressed that when she was young, she thought that writing was easy for people who are good at it. She used to be sensitive to the feedback she received from teachers. Now, she welcomes criticism. “I want people to make my work stronger,” she said.
The conversation wrapped up with the students reading excerpts from their own creative writing. Many students told her that while they don’t love to read, they do love to write. “I’m so inspired that so many of you said you like to write, and that you have the confidence to say that…. The world needs all of our stories,” Hena said at the end of the session. Thank you Hena Khan for showing us a narrative we don’t always hear, and for the reminder that each of us has a story that deserves to be told!
