Name Maryam Sullivan | Role Poet | |
 | ||
Occupation novelist, playwright, poet, performer Genre Urban Islamic literature Notable works The Size of A Mustard Seed | ||
Maryam “Umm Juwayriyah” Sullivan is an American Muslim poet, novelist, playwright, journalist and performance artist. Sullivan’s novel The Size of a Mustard Seed is the first published Islamic Urban fiction title.
Contents
Life
Umm Juwayriyah is an American Muslim of West Indian and American ancestry. She has three children and is a full-time elementary school teacher. In addition to writing, performing, and teaching, Umm Juwayriyah is editor for the New England Muslim Women's Association and former two-term assistant director of the Islamic Writers Alliance.
Work
Umm Juwayriyah’s began publishing her work at fourteen years old as the founder and a contributor to the newsletter and e-zine Adhaanul Mu’minaat. She has been published in print magazines such as Al Jumuah, Azizah, SISTERS, An Nisaa, and as well is published on several internet sites and other e-zines. Umm Juwayriyah’s debut Islamic fiction novel The Size of a Mustard Seed is the first Islamic Urban fiction title.
Umm Juwayriyah has been performing her poetry and plays since she was 17. She has performed at the Islamic Circle of North America Convention (ICNA), New England Muslim Sisters Association (NEMSA), RETREAT, Muslimah Fit Retreat, the New Haven Masjid Al Islam’s Youth Retreat, and numerous American colleges, including American International College and Amherst College. She has presented workshops at Rochester Institute of Technology, Al Iqra Academy, and at many Islamic Centers in New England. Her first staged play In The Shadows of Our Mothers debuted in 2003. Hijab All Mine opened in 2010 in New Haven, Connecticut. Umm Juwayriyah also speaks to Muslim and non-Muslim groups across the United States addressing issues, such as Muslims and media, Muslims in print, the state of Muslim youth in the West, and growing up Muslim in America.