Desert Island Books: Filiz Ahmet

Maryam Ismail

Apr 11, 2012

http://www.thenational.ae/featured-content/channel-page/lifestyle/middle-article-list/desert-island-books-filiz-ahmet

It's a lovely irony that Filiz Ahmet, the lead in the historical television series Muhtesem Yüzyil (The Magnificent Century), is a by-product of the Ottoman campaigns into Europe. An ethnic Turk from Macedonia, she is a star on both sides of the Bosphorus - in her native hometown, Skopje, and in Istanbul. Ahmet, 30, made her stage debut at the age of 6 alongside her grandfather, the theatrical legend Lütfü Seyfullah, at the Skopje National Turkish Theatre. She attended the Skopje Academy of Fine Arts Theatre Company and in 2003 won the Best Young Actress award for her role in the play Küçürekkiz. However, her transition from stage to the small screen wasn't easy, as she would get panic attacks in front of the camera. "At the time, I just felt that once they started shooting it was never going to end," she says. "It took me about two months to get used to the camera, now I'm very comfortable with it." Her television career began when she starred in the Macedonian series Galina, the story of a family set during the Balkan war. She then moved on to Turkish TV in the series Elveda Rumeli. The creators of Muhtesem Yüzyil asked her to read the script for the pilot, and she liked it and accepted the part of Nigar Kalfa. The hit series, based on intrigues in the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, airs around the globe from Uzbekistan to the US. It is on Dubai TV as Hareem Sultan. Ahmet tells Maryam Ismail about her Desert Island Books.

THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint Exupery

This classic was one of the first books I read as a child. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down until I finished it. At the time, I found the pictures so fascinating that I kept going back to look at them again and again. It's really just a little tale, but it taught me that there's a whole new world beyond my imagination, and it might just be better than anything I could have imagined. After many years, I've re-read it as an adult, and realised how much influence it has had on the direction I've taken in my life. This is most definitely a book that gets my heart fluttering with excitement even if I read just a few chapters.

 A MEMENTO FOR ISTANBUL by Ahmet Ümit

This mystery starts in present-day Istanbul when a body is found with an ancient coin in its hand; solving the case means going all the way back to the Byzantine era. It's sort of a history of murders in Istanbul. In this book you learn not only how people lived in the city at different times throughout history, but also how laws have changed over time as well. While reading about murders, I learned a lot about Istanbul that I never knew - amazing!

 THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

This classic was one of the first books I read as a child. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down until I finished it. At the time, I found the pictures so fascinating that I kept going back to look at them again and again. It's taught me that there's a whole new world beyond my imagination, and it might just be better than anything I could have imagined. I've re-read it as an adult, and realised how much influence it has had on the direction I've taken in my life.

 PUSLU KITALAR ATLASI by Ihsan Oktay Anar

This is one book that everyone must read at least once in their lifetime, especially because of its flawless narrative style and how it plays with history. It takes you back to Ottoman times and asks the reader, how would life have been different if people then had thought about things differently? What if they had been sceptics? As the story takes shape one can feel a sense of tranquility. This book tries to say a lot, but if I give too much away, it will take away from its magic. I advise all of those who haven't read it yet to do so the first chance they get.

 THINK OF A NUMBER by John Verdon

This is the first of the Dave Gurney series and it's the best detective story I've read in years. It's about a psychopath who sends menacing messages, filled with riddles and numbers. Once I got it in my hands I didn't want to put it down. But I had to settle for reading it when I had time between shooting scenes of Muhtesem Yüzy¿l. It was really hard when it came my turn to shoot. As soon as I was done filming, I'd run back to my place just continue reading it. It was so real it made me wonder, could something like that really happen?

 SERENAD by Zülfü Livaneli

Livaneli is my kind of writer. My family and I have been following his work over the years. As soon as this book was released, people rushed to get it and criticised it a lot. Nevertheless, to me the book is beautiful. It's a love story that begins at the start of the First World War and the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire. It follows a woman from her past to her present and it uses breathtaking language to tie every scene together seamlessly. Serenad makes you relive history; each event in it is so well researched and told in such exquisite detail. Reading it was like an education in itself.

 EVRENDEN TORPILIM VAR by Aykut Ogut

I often read self-help books that my friends recommend to me. With Evrenden Torpilim Var, I found that it talked about so many things that happened to me in my own life. It teaches you that you can get over any obstacles that come your way. This is one book that you can't just read once and then put up on the shelf. For sure there will be times in your life when you have challenges and you will want to refer to it again and again

Best friends forever

The National staff

Apr 28, 2012 

http://www.thenational.ae/featured-content/channel-page/lifestyle/middle-article-list/best-friends-forever

Comforting, thoughtful, kind and generous, our best friends are always there for us and often know us even better than we know ourselves. We meet three sets of true BFFs and learn what feelings and shared interests bind them together. Photographs by Tina Chang

Maryam Ismail, 48, and Aayisha Nur Ismail, 8, and Khadijah Nur Ismail, 10

From Newark, New Jersey, US and Sharjah

How and when they met?

Maryam met both her girls on their birthdays but in two different countries. Aayisha was born in Dubai and Khadijah was born in Newark, New Jersey. "As an expat in the UAE I didn't know many people," she says, "and so, my children became my constant friends and companions. We became friends when we discovered our mutual love for foreign languages and history."

Why are you best friends?

"Love is the reason," says Maryam. "We just love to be together. When people ask me if I like having kids, I always answer: 'Of course.' Every time I look at Khadijah's lovely face, I remember how I felt the day she was born. After two boys she was my first girl, my dream baby. 'Did you see that pretty baby?' people would say whenever we went out shopping. She was my trophy. Now, she's my smart cookie."

Best thing about them?

Maryam: "With Aayisha, I've learnt that there is no excuse for holding onto pain. She's the bravest person that I know. She suffers from eczema terribly sometimes, and yet, she always has a ready smile and tons of sweetness to go with it. As for Khadijah, I call her my personal secretary, Ever since she was four she's had this ability to observe things and learn them really fast. This comes in handy when your day is as hectic as mine."

Khadijah: "The best thing about our mother is that she is cuddly and sweet and we look alike. She always encourages me to do the things I like. Right now, my favourite is cooking. She's always letting me pick stuff out of the cookbooks to make."

Aayisha: Leaning back on her mother's arm, she says: "She's kind like a heart," and smiles. "She picks the best toys! Also, I'm her teddy bear and she's mine."

Defining moment

Maryam: "For me the defining moment was when I began home-schooling them. Most parents feel that they need a break from kids; however, I don't. They're my little buddies. I then realised that I actually enjoyed their company. We chat, play together and have a lot of fun."

Maryam Ismail

A writer writes about a writer

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/successful-start-for-iranian-american-teen-romance-author#full

Successful start for Iranian-American teen romance author

Maryam Ismail

Mar 24, 2012 

Tahereh Mafi wrote her debut novel in less than three months, has completed the second and has Hollywood knocking on her door. Maryam Ismail meets the young author who has taken the publishing world by storm with her saga of a uniquely tactile teenager. 

Tahereh Mafi heard a voice in her head and started to write. The musings of this voice turned into a novel and that soon turned into a trilogy. Now she's an example of a literary success.

I first found out about Mafi on the blog of the author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford, when I was learning the ropes of writing and publishing. I had no idea that this quirky young woman from California would blow up as one of the hottest young-adult writers of 2011. It seems that as soon as I found her she came out with a whisper of a novel (advance reader copies), then two book trailers. Now she's hitting the stratosphere. I can only dream of being so lucky. But it seems luck had little to do with it. Hard work, perseverance, good writing and a fascinating story put Mafi on the swagger list.

"When I'm drafting, I write from 4am to 2am," says Mafi, 24. "I need this much time to find my words. Sometimes, I send my family away for a week until I'm done."

Tahereh Mafi wrote her debut novel in less than three months, has completed the second and has Hollywood knocking on her door. 

This intensity helped Mafi finish that debut young-adult novel, Shatter Me, in two and a half months. And if you can write like that, you don't want to wait around to see if it's a success. So she queried publishers.

The literati may be pitting self-publishing against traditional publishing, but Mafi hit a home run for the old school. "There is so much more in terms of promotion that a publisher can do for you," she says. (For Shatter Me, HarperCollins created a website, released those advance reader copies and filmed two book trailers, one of which premiered on MTV's Hollywood Crush.) "Also, it's so easy to get lost in the e-book world unless you're really willing to work very hard to get your book out there."

Which is why Mafi doesn't waste time when it comes to using social media; she tweets only with one goal in mind, to make contact with her readers. In this respect, she borders on Machiavellian in her calculated effort to go from someone who plays around with words to one who creates worlds. In fact, she says she had no intention of writing a novel.

"I started writing after graduating from university [Soka University of America, in Orange County, California] because I didn't have much to do," she says. Now, with her second novel, Unravel Me completed and set for publication in February 2013, she is working on the last instalment of her trilogy, and awaiting progress on a film of Shatter Me, on which 20th Century Fox has an option.

Mafi's blog, Grab a Pen, which she started before she got her book deal, features writer-friendly advice as well as angst, doubts and straight-backed marching towards an uncertain future. She is traversing the same bumpy, treacherous valleys and sun-kissed hills as do so many writers. Now that her book is out, the daughter of Iranian immigrants is focusing on her website and again on her Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts, where she connects with her fans, who seem to love Shatter Me's three main characters, Juliette, Warner and Adam.

Shatter Me is set in an authoritarian society filled with human misery, war and environmental damage. To break up the gloomy background, Mafi adds a twist of teen love in this chaotic world controlled by the shadowy Reestablishment, and the relationship between Juliette and Adam is a steamy one. Mafi says that Shatter Me is being marketed in Germany for adults, not teens, because of the darkness of the novel, but it might be because of the love scenes.

"The teen years are when we discover these feelings," Mafi says in defending her romantic explicitness. "Juliette needs love. She's been abandoned by everyone." As it turns out, Adam's care and affection help Juliette to shatter doubts about her self-worth and the claims that she's a monster, a teenager with a lethal touch who is highly sought after to be used as a weapon of war.

Yet it is up to Juliette to decide what to do with her power, and this concept underscores the many ways in which women are used as an ends to a means, from war to marketing.

"I wanted to show how we can change a negative into a positive," Mafi says. "A hammer can be used to destroy a house or build one." The author knows this herself, noting: "I wasn't the most popular in high school, but I've overcome that."

I ask if her family was surprised by her success. She laughs and says: "No. When they found out, they said: 'Of course, we knew she could do it.'"

Maryam Ismail on Muslim literary characters

Maryam Ismail

Mar 14, 2012 

http://www.thenational.ae/featured-content/channel-page/lifestyle/middle-article-list/maryam-ismail-on-muslim-literary-characters 

March in the UAE means books. Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi are flush with writers, authors, publishers and agents; everything to make literary dreams come true. However, there aren't enough great books for Muslim kids aged 9-16, who need books that reflect their lives and their culture. How many jinns, vampires, ghosts and goblins must be consumed before enough is enough? 

Obviously, there's a genre crisis. Something funny happened in my stomach when I saw the trailer for the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Is nothing sacred? Perhaps it's just a girl thing or that one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that was mind-numbing trash that made me dislike all things from the world of the undead.

I've tried mysteries, too. I went to my local children's bookseller and my daughter picked up Two-Minute Mysteries by Donald J Sobol. Little did I know that I'd be exposing my then-8 year-old to alcohol and drug users, liars and murderers. When I consulted a librarian in Philadelphia, she told me the book was meant for sixth-graders. I can't say I felt better.

The crisis is really with the Muslim literary canon. I know there will be some who will say: "We don't do literature, it's lying". Of course, lying should not be a priority, but I won't blame Jacqueline Wilson, JK Rowling or Stephenie Meyer for misguiding Muslim youth. It's not their fault. It's mine. I don't mind the responsibility.

I – and you, fellow writers or would-be writers – should be turning out books instead of fewer-than-a-thousand-word quips. I should be writing 10,000 words a day, a novel a year. I'm trying, believe me. Inshallah, I will be successful. And my book will not have any supernatural characters; maybe some blood, maybe some fighting, but it will be something worth reading.

My goal is to add to the genre of halal fiction, to join the ranks of Leila Aboulela, whose work juggles the art of fiction without losing its soul to madness. We can write stories for kids without exceeding the limits of Islam and without being dull or saccharine.

The stories don't have to be overtly religious; more importantly, it's an issue of self-image. How many times has someone read a book and said: "For the first time, I saw someone like me in the story?" Every day, during school, kids read stories with images, names and situations that are strange to them, especially for children who live in the UAE.

Why waste time explaining the behaviour of Willow Smith or Justin Bieber as a cautionary tale? It won't work in this fame-driven global culture. Kids need alternatives. Let's feed their imaginations with adventures in the Muslim world. Why not write of life in the UAE before oil? What was it like? How hard was it to do daily tasks? How much fun was it?

I'd love to read a novel about an 11-year-old girl living in Andalusia or a student of Mimar Sinan in Constantinople during the 1500s or a young Sipahi in the Ottoman Empire.

This doesn't mean you write some cynical story about a wimpy teenager or a hot, steamy Twilight-esque novel; that's not what's needed. Nor is sticking a Muslim name on it enough. Do something totally different. Blow the competition out of the water, inshallah.

OK, there's the homework. Let's get cracking. If any of you seem scared or don't know what to do, send me a message and let's do this.

Maryam Ismail is a sociologist and teacher who divides her time between the US and the UAE. Reach her on Twitter @alaskamongolia, which is the title of her forthcoming anthology. 

Feeling of family fades as expatriates scattered to the wind

Maryam Ismail

Mar 6, 2012 

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/feeling-of-family-fades-as-expatriates-scattered-to-the-wind

Two weeks ago, I was helping my husband's sister pack the fragments of her life to ship back to India. Her husband had lost his job and felt there was no use in trying for another one here, since he might make the same or better money back home. So, with only 90 minutes to go, my sister-in-law was trying to stuff every sticker, glass bangle, saucer and hairpin in a box, turning the move into a travelling scrapbook.

And yet, they left so much behind. Two wardrobes, a bed and a kitchen filled with spices, dishes and a stove. It was more than enough for the next person to come in and start cooking. As I helped her sort out everything, I felt a sense of dread. What will I do if I'm the next to go?

In the airport my daughters burst into tears as they wrapped their arms around their "Chachi", or auntie in Tamil, one last time. Next was the turn of my husband's other sister. Embracing, the sisters both used the ends of their sheilas to sop up their tears.

My nephew, my daughters' last cousin here, blinked back tears; nevertheless, he put on his widest smile. He left waving and calling out to his cousins for the entire length of the line to the X-ray machines.

Seeing my daughter, leaning against the wall to hide her sobs, I wanted to grab her and run away from this pain. Such is life for many expatriates, wherever they may be. Family and friends come and go. We all know our turn will come as well, but we pretend like it's never going to happen.

But now it has happened to us. Our family once included 35 members all living within walking distance of one another; we are now six in Sharjah and five in Abu Dhabi. The past three years have been devastating.

This last departure seemed almost like a funeral, where the family tries to get over it quickly, close the box, toss on some dirt and move on. This was my husband's approach, but he was sad too. With his big sister gone, there was one less person to joke and giggle with and to share the stories of their childhood.

Back when we were all together, I'd sit there and watch how he and his mother, sisters and brothers would roar with laughter. And even though I didn't understand a word of it, I didn't care, because I knew it made him happy.

It also saved me from cooking: I'm an American. My mother bought KFC, Gino's and Hardee's every Friday. It might sound like neglect, but from the age of 10 I mostly ate hot dogs roasted on a fork, scrambled eggs, backyard barbecue, and chicken and dumplings with salad. We rarely ate rice, which is a thrice-daily staple in any South Indian home.

With my husband's sister gone, I will have to do all the cooking. This is another tragedy. South Indian cooking is a science and a skill that I don't have, and one which I do not care to learn. It's mind-boggling hard.

My mother-in-law and her daughters can make about 50 dishes with rice, all of them taking about two days. "It's easy," they would tease. Yeah, it's easy to come over and eat it, but not to make it.

One such creation is dosa, made from fermented, ground rice and coconut milk. This crunchy pancake is my youngest daughter's favourite. Every time we visited Chachi she would beg for it. It didn't matter; the batter would be ready.

Now, who will make dosa for my girls? Who will make all of my husband's favourite south Indian dishes? My sister-in-law and her husband have offered to host us in their new home, but five hours on a plane once a year is heartbreaking.

For us, it's the UAE; for others, it's somewhere else. As the search for a better life spreads us across the world, I somehow feel like an old Roman citizen of the empire, where one could move from the Iberian Peninsula to the Levant. These days we call it globalisation. Back then, when your time was up, you were thrown to the lions. This time, it's to the four winds.

As I watched Chachi disappear out of sight, I wanted to cry too. I'll miss her. My sister took care of my girls like they were her own. But most of all, I'll miss the times we spent together, laughing and chatting, and eating dosas.

Maryam Ismail is a teacher based in both the US and the UAE

Fire tragedies leave many homeless and friendless

Maryam Ismail

Feb 20, 2012 

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/fire-tragedies-leave-many-homeless-and-friendless#full

My daughter shouted from her room: "Look out the window". Then, I saw the fog of smoke. My junior investigative reporting team (my daughters), went down to see what was going on and brought back a report along with several pictures: the fire was in "Danger Building".

Danger Building got its infamous name after the 2005 Iranian earthquake, when the frightening aftershocks, which made the building shake considerably, sent its residents running outside. On January 10, the residents of Danger Building were out on the streets again, this time escaping from a fire.

From 6am on Friday until Saturday morning, there was almost no one out to help the families that had taken refuge in their cars, corridors of the surrounding buildings, and on the grassy slope supporting the exits on Al Khan Bridge, as they watched their building smolder and burn.

"Have the building owners or management come to see the residents?" I asked. "No. It's Friday...who cares about us?" one resident, Riya, told me. These words stopped me in my tracks. Why does she feel this way? Is it true? I got my answer, when no one responded to those who needed help. I decided to put social media to the test and sent out messages on Twitter and Facebook to several charities and other local organisations that do occasional charity campaigns, but got no reply.

Where were the aid agencies and volunteers who could assist them that chilly, cloudy morning? Why do some cases get more attention than others? Charity can't be about some lending a hand only if the tragedy merits a multi-page, glossy-coloured photo-op, pats on the backs, and international praise.

As the blaze raged, management was mute, but quickly found its voice when it came to matters of money. When some residents decided to cancel their newly signed contracts and asked for their cheques back, the building management had the nerve to demand three months rent.

Fifteen days later, another fire, but this time, the tragedy is multiplied. Over 100 families are homeless, having lost everything. This time, help was forthcoming. And unlike at Danger Building, during the second fire at Al Baker Tower, there were volunteers taking names and numbers. Perhaps it was because Al Baker Tower was only two years old; but then, the question is how did such a new building burn so fast? Looking at the torched skeleton of the building, I thought about all of those who lost everything. Luckily for them there was some help.

Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qassimi is heading a campaign, in collaboration with several other businesses and charities, to give some assistance to the victims of this devastating tragedy. They are collecting clothes and household items, and assisting people with temporary shelter. This campaign lasted only a week; it will take many many more to recover fully.

How did these two fires start? Were there any fire safety mechanisms in place? Fire drills? In my building, there isn't any. I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen but I need to practice using it. Mohamed Shakkir, an architect with Haruia Associates, told me that sometimes the building owners will ask that in order to cut costs that the fire exits be removed.

Here are a few tips. If your building has fire exits practice a fire drill with your family. Learn the easiest path out of your building, and keep your important papers and money ready incase you need to leave in a hurry. Ask schools to have a fire safety week. Perhaps with some of these prevention methods, fires can be stopped or their severity lessened. Don't rely on building management.

So where do ordinary expatriates go when they find themselves homeless? Who will come to their aid? Only a few friends, I've learned. When it comes to rent, contracts, and real estate management, tenants are thrown to the lions. It seems heartless that even days later, residents are still homeless. Where will they eat and sleep? How will they get to work and school?

The UAE has many millionaires, businesses and charities helping people around the world.

But charity begins at home. With mercy and care, we can grow together. Without them, we're just individual grains of sand tossed around by the uncaring winds of circumstance.

My Life: the modern Muslim woman is who she chooses to be

Maryam Ismail
January 11, 2012
http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/my-life-the-modern-muslim-woman-is-who-she-chooses-to-be

Where did this image of the oppressed Muslim woman come from and when will this battle against it stop? Growing up on a diet of Saturday TV matinees, every "Muslim woman" I saw in the movies was a belly dancer with a lot of chiffon wrapped around her. Mata Hari, who was actually a Dutch divorcée who recreated herself as a Javanese Hindu princess, changed the world of exotic women forever. In the films of old it was the dance of the seven veils that would woo a man into revealing secrets of war. Today, it seems there is the idea that under one's hijab lies some mystical inner working, one that needs to be covered up by another layer of normality.

This seemed to be the idea at a recent panel discussion called "The Role of Muslim Women in Society". This discussion was part of the ICover photograph exhibit by Sadaf Syed at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization. This exhibit is a sort of official debut of the new American Muslim. This newly christened, hybrid identity is one that hopes to erase all ties with Muslim cultural, ethnic and linguistic history.

The exhibit tries to show Muslim women breaking the boundaries of so-called tradition. Muslimah rockers, surfers and boxers are some of the examples of the "modern Muslim woman". OK, that may be well and good, but I am so tired of this conversation. Muslims are people and by virtue of this essential fact, they are going to do what they want. Perhaps some might wag a finger and proclaim this is un-Islamic. Others will argue that traditional (Islamic) ideology is a thing past and shout: "Come on now, get over it."

I am so over hijab hysteria.

Standing on the sidelines of this discourse is like watching a dog chase its tail with the sincere hope of catching it. And if he does, what will happen? More than likely, he'll yelp and bite himself again for being so stupid. Why should it be a special event if a woman who wears a hijab decides to be a fencer or a ballerina? Is it out of the realm of faith? Some may not think so and others may not care. Then, there may be another premise: that wearing the hijab will show the world that Muslim women have arrived. However, I think that if this is the case, they may end up being the oldest debutantes at the ball.

This was the case during the panel discussion sponsored by the US Consulate in Dubai. On the panel were the fashion designer Rabia K, the media consultant Wafa KBR, the artist Najat Mekky and the US foreign service officer Marwa Zeini. The first three are Emirati women who have been successful in their fields despite their covering Islamically and came to discuss their experiences. I don't want to steal my sisters' thunder - they deserve their applause, because their journeys have not been easy - but they were managing their lives as they see fit, within the context of their circumstances.

"Muslim women should wear clothes that they can run and play in," Zeini said. Was she trying to tap into my unconscious and force me to do battle with my former self? Just then, I got an uneasy feeling that someone was going to kidnap me the moment I stepped into the streets, and then announce the next day that I was miraculously freed by Brad Pitt and American values.

If anything, I wish someone would rescue me from this endless notion that a woman is nothing unless she aspires to run with the big boys or tosses her Muslim soul into the sea and declares she's free at last. Can we please talk about something else?