A Conversation with Arab-American author, Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki

Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki was born in Washington D.C. to an Arab father and an American mother. She grew up in Iran, Kuwait, Beirut and Jerusalem where she attended Arabic, British and American schools. She attended the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, has a BA in journalism from George Washington University in Washington D.C., and an MA in creative writing from George Mason University, Virginia. As an astute observer of two distinct cultures, she has published five works of fiction, some of which have been taught at universities in multicultural literature, women’s studies and Arab studies departments.

Kathryn worked as a journalist and features writer for an English weekly newspaper in Bahrain before devoting her time to writing fiction. Her published works include a collection of short stories, Fields of Fig and Olive: Ameera and Other Stories of the Middle East, and four novels, Tower of Dreams, Ghost Songs, Sands of Zulaika and A Marriage in Four Seasons. She won the Mary Roberts Rinehart award for short fiction, and her novel, Sands of Zulaika was a finalist for the Ariadne Prize. (She has also published in journals such as Confrontation, Shenandoah Review, Phoebe, Union Street Review and WorldVision). Her books are taught at universities in Multicultural Literature and Arab Studies departments and she is a frequent lecturer at universities and schools on these subjects. Universities where she has lectured include Georgetown University, Mary Washington University, University of Virginia, Sarah Lawrence University, Tufts University, New York University, Grand Rapids Community College, University of Southern Maryland and St. Mary’s College, Maryland.

Kathyrn released in September a new memoir that reflects on love, loss, renewal and overcoming devastating early trauma through music, dancing and the devotion of the strong American and Arab women in her life, called Dancing Into the Light: An Arab-American Girlhood in the Middle East. Kathryn’s new book weaves together stories about her bicultural upbringing with an American mother and a Muslim father from Jerusalem (Her family moved from Washington, D.C., to the Middle East when she was very young). Set against the backdrop of the early American presence in Iran under the Shah, and the burgeoning years of Kuwait’s early oil boom, Dancing into the Light is Kathryn’s memoir of a life disrupted by tragedy. But instead of derailing her life, her mother’s death opened the door to deeper love and support from other places within her family. Kathryn discusses:

• Growing up immersed in disparate cultures, navigating cultural mores and values of two very different societies
• How people of diametrically different cultures and faiths can coexist in harmony when there is tolerance and respect for the other
• Dispelling stereotypes of Arab women and misconceptions about Middle Eastern cultures
• Life as a bicultural person in the Middle East – Kathryn’s mother was a Southern woman from Tennessee and her father was a Muslim from Jerusalem
• How she has seen Kuwait, Jerusalem and other parts of the Middle East change politically, socially and historically over her lifetime
• Experiences with grief at an early age, and how she found solace following the deaths of her mother and younger brother
• Overcoming devastating early trauma through music and dancing

Ms. Magazine said of Kathryn’s work: “Her politics are feminist, her theme is human ethics, and her writing is finely honed.”

She has three children and resides with her husband in McLean, Virginia. She loves to dance and teaches and performs Argentine tango in the Washington, DC area.

Find out more about her at ⁠www.KathrynAbdulbaki.com⁠.