Fallon Book Club shortlist!! 🤯
What an honor to share space with authors @janellebrownie@annie_hartnett@emergencychampagne
& epic winner @backmansk on @fallontonight for @fallonbookclub 🥹
When the producers reached out to my publisher 6 weeks ago to request copies for coverage consideration, I thought... cute, but there's no way 🫣
This moment feels bigger than me.
We are witnessing the greatest humanitarian catastrophe happening in Palestine. My novel – which has taken 10 years to get to this point – is a sweet, humorous story that centers on a Palestinian American family in NYC and offers insight into how they were displaced from Jaffa in the 1940's. So lucky to have comedian @reemedan narrate the audiobook ⭐
And now, @JimmyFallon said my name and featured my debut novel on national TV!!!
What a win for #Dubai, a city that has raised me up at every stage, with support from @ahlambolooki , @Isobel , @Hind_seddiqi , @elfdubai , to @Emirates hosting me on their in-flight podcast, to @dubaiculture , to @dubaifuture , to my amazing husband @jamiltv who rolls his eyes every time my self-doubt creeps in...
Thanks to each of you for voting!!
Thank you to my publisher @henryholtbooks and my US agency @utapublishing@meredithofthemillers for believing in me - this is a day I'll never forget!
#author #bookclub #shortlist #fallonbookclubsummerreads
In exactly one week, the paperback edition of What Will People Think? comes out in the US!
As I sit here nursing a cold, looking at photos from the last year, the main thing that stands out in this insane string of memories is gratitude ✨
Of course the accolades are wonderful (hi, Jimmy Fallon OMFG) - but the community that came together is the reason why I love to tell stories. The hugs, the people who championed me along the way, the chance to tell the story of a Palestinian family being displaced, with dignity and heart - this is what it's all about.
Thank you for being on this wild ride with me. It means the world ❤️ and I hope if someone reading this is considering writing a book - do it. It took me 10 years of stops, starts and failure along the way, but that's part of the beauty. There's no such thing as a timeline with real creative work.
My paperback will be available on May 19 anywhere books are sold, and if you see my baby on a bookshelf send me a pic 📚
The word magazine comes from the Arabic makhzan — a warehouse. As you move through the pages of our second issue, consider what is being stored here: a poem written in the margins of a notebook, a melody hummed in a kitchen, a recipe passed down in careful measurements and memory. These are not small gestures. They are how culture survives.
In moments like these, creativity feels both fragile and essential. It asks for attention when distraction feels easier, and for hope when hope can feel distant. To engage with it is an act of defiance — a way of saying that beauty still matters, that it is worth protecting.
This is true beauty.
A birthday treat - our second issue of @tmagazine.me is out!
Amid all this tiring instability, we share moments of pure beauty from our region with pride. Travel with us across fields of smoked red chillies in a story about Tunisian harissa, hear the lyricism of Egyptian singer Bayou and feel the passion of Somali-British boxer & supermodel Ramla Ali...
Hundreds of pages featuring life-affirming pieces, created right here at our desks, from our hearts to yours!
So proud - and thank you to all who worked on this gorgeous issue ❤️
This is 42 ☺️
Life has felt like an unpredictable sea lately. Playing mermaid for a day 😅
In all honesty, the lesson I keep learning is that life is about the people who surround you.
Grateful to have family, friends and colleagues who add sparkle ✨
Always grateful 🙏
Happy birthday @jamiltv my love ❤️
It's great surviving a plague and war with you... And that's just raising kids 😅
Part of why I love Dubai so much is because we met and created a family here #home
I have devoted my entire life, creatively and professionally, to seeking beauty in a world that speaks loudest in darkness. Perhaps, as a woman of Palestinian heritage, it’s in my DNA. I don’t shout about it (if you know me, you know how soft spoken I am), but in soothing words, you will find delightful stories about music, art, food, culture, books and all the things that make us feel good in the world.
This is my promise to you as Editor in Chief of @tmagazine.me : to draw out the gorgeous qualities of life in the Middle East, or as Arabs. To offer a platform to very deserving creatives — the chefs, filmmakers, designers, artists and singers. I see you, I hear you.
Today, amid strife, we need you. Tag people below who you believe should adorn the pages of T, and together, let’s make the world a little prettier for us all.
رسائل إلى الإمارات
من مجتمعنا الأدبي إليكم.. رسائل محبة نتقاسمها لتكون ملاذاً من الهدوء ومصدراً للأمل. نذكّر أنفسنا وإياكم أننا معاً دائماً، وأن قصصنا هي الخيط الذي يربط قلوبنا ببعضها البعض.
Letters to the UAE
Written by voices from our literary community—offering solace, strength, and a reminder that we are never alone in the stories we share.
#letterstotheuae
A few days with my parents in my little "Greek Gilmore Girls" hometown and it was so refreshing (and freezing - caught a moment of sun just for a photo)
We took the kids to see the Acropolis (see last slide) - this temple watched over the city when Athens was ruled by the Persians, Ottomans and then briefly the Italians... And here it is, still regal and standing 🇬🇷
It's Easter in Greece and I lit a candle in the little church on my street, wishing for stability and peace. Kalo pasxa to those who celebrate 🐣
This is the tone I'm carrying as I head back to my other home in the UAE, where I've lived for 20 years!
I heart you, Dubai ❤️
Was this the right time to launch a new title focused on art and culture? I think so; during unsettling times, we turn to art. A comfort food, a rerun of a fave show, a song that makes the world pause for a moment.
The word 'magazine' comes from the Arabic word 'makhzan,' which means warehouse. So we hope that our warehouse of stories about Arab creativity - from chefs to authors to filmmakers - brings you hope and light.
This has been months of hard work in the making with so many incredible people. Follow @tmagazine.me to stay up to date - we're just getting started!
Which cover is your fave? 👀
