Seeing for Ourselves: And even stranger possibilities (Hajar Press, September 2023)
Why do we yearn to be seen when we are already far too visible? How do we want to be perceived, and how are we exposed? Could we ever really see for ourselves?
In memoir, vignettes, poetry and essays, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan records her observations from the stands at the dizzying circus of being seen and unseen… paying attention to what’s on show and what goes undetected.
Perhaps the strangest, most exciting possibilities are opened when we surrender to another kind of sight. Submitting to the gaze of the Unseen and the All-Seeing, Manzoor-Khan invites us to close our eyes and discover what it would mean to look with our souls instead.
‘To read this expansive treasure of a book is to see everything differently.’ — Sabrina Mahfouz
‘Moves the heart and provokes thought in equal measure.’ — Preti Taneja
‘A rare treat … we witness a profound thinker and remarkable poet at work.’ — Arun Kundnani
‘A gift and a blessing’ — Muneera Pilgrim
Tangled in Terror: Uprooting Islamophobia (Pluto Press, 2022)
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan reveals how Islamophobia not only lives under the skin of those who it marks, but is an international political project designed to divide people in the name of security, in order to materially benefit global stakeholders. It can only be truly uprooted when we focus not on what it is but what it does. Tangled in Terror shows that until the most marginalised Muslims are safe, nobody is safe.
'What we Muslims have been waiting for. A brilliant, powerful and moving account.’
- Nadine El-Enany
'Fierce and clarifying' - Lola Olufemi
'This is the first time the breadth and depth of the Islamophobia we face has been collated in one place and analysed with such precision. It really feels like 'our' book'
- Moazzam Begg, former prisoner at Guantánamo Bay
'Unapologetically abolitionist, 'Tangled in Terror' resonates as a powerful act of refusal and resistance.’
- Helen Brewer, member of the Stansted 15
'Conveys the trauma that is so often unspoken of in discussions of state enabled bigotry against Muslims, written with deep clarity' - Sheikh Omar Suleiman
Postcolonial Banter
(Verve Poetry Press, 2019)
Suhaiymah’s debut collection features some of her most well-known and widely performed poems as well as some never-seen-before material. Her words are a disruption of comfort, a call to action, a redistribution of knowledge and an outpouring of dissent.
Ranging from critiquing racism, systemic Islamophobia, the function of the nation-state and rejecting secularist visions of identity, to reflecting on the difficulty of writing and penning responses to conversations she wishes she’d had; Suhaiymah’s debut collection is ready and raring to enter the world.
“Suhaiymah’s courage to challenge the dictatorship of prevailing orthodoxy in our political moment inspires and liberates all who read her work... you are holding a piece of history in your hands.” - Lowkey
“This is an at once brave and vulnerable, fierce and compassionate, angry and hopeful collection. From one of Britain’s most promising young voices, we get both sharp insights and an impassioned case for change. Read it.”
- Dr Priyamvada Gopal
“Culture is crucial to revolution and we need poetry like this to light a fire under the racial status quo. Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan has written the lyrics of rebellion for this restless generation.” - Dr Kehinde Andrews
A FLY Girl’s Guide to University
(Verve Poetry Press, 2019)
A FLY Girl’s Guide to University is a collection of memoirs, essays, poetry and prose from four women of colour – Lola Olufemi, Odelia Younge, Waithera Sebatindira, and Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan – who studied at the University of Cambridge. ‘The purpose of our book is simple: we believe that our lives, our experiences, and our voices matter, especially in a place of power, pervasive whiteness and exclusivity. Our voices not only deserve to be heard but must be because the ‘Cambridge experience’ of a middle-class, white, cisgendered, able-bodied man is not the only one. Ours cannot be silenced.
We believe our book itself to be a form of activism in its fearless sharing of our experiences and in contributing to the provision of previously silenced truths. We want our work to act as a disruption, a hope, and a symbol that though marginalised in many ways and many spaces, we are very much alive, evolving and powerful.’
This wonderful book needs to be read, discussed and understood, in Universities, but also in government offices, businesses and everywhere else.
Essays in
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My White Best Friend (and other letters)
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I Refuse to Condemn (2020)
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Cut From The Same Cloth (2021)