‘Could it be that they aren’t preoccupied with the questions that preoccupy me because they learnt to see themselves somewhere before being tossed through the portal of the border? I, by contrast, do not recall a life before objecthood. What a strange possibility: not to consider yourself strange.’
— Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, Seeing for Ourselves
Join us for Hajar Reads: Intergenerational. In this special, POC-only edition of Hajar Reads, we’re partnering with The Feminist Library’s Black Feminist Reading Group. We’ll reflect on relationships that span across generations, looking at what these can teach us about care, sense of self and community. We’ll also reflect on ruptures and inheritance, grappling with what it means to never fully be able to know another’s experiences.
We’ll use short extracts from selected Hajar Press titles—including The Leaf of the Neem Tree (Jamal Mehmood), Sambac Beneath Unlikely Skies (Heba Hayek) and Seeing for Ourselves (Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan)—and extracts from titles in The Feminist Library’s collection as a starting point for our discussion.
Extracts will be shared in advance of the session, but there’s no expectation to have read them all to take part—just come along ready to listen, think and share!
‘I felt a type of shame I was ashamed of. Why was it so hard for me to ask my only child for help?’
— Jamal Mehmood, The Leaf of the Neem Tree
This session, co-hosted by Hajar Press and The Black Feminist Reading Group, will be facilitated by Amber Obasi from Hajar Press and Nonki Azariah from The Feminist Library.
The Feminist Library is a large collection of feminist literature based in London. It is a library and community space and supports research, activist and community projects.
Visit Eventbrite for tickets. Please note: In keeping with The Black Feminist Reading Group’s ethos, this month’s reading group will be a closed session for Black people and people of colour.
For early access to spaces at Hajar Reads, consider joining our subscription; we release a limited number of early free spots to our subscribers every month.