An excerpt from “Taboos in Arabic,” my current writing project Trigger warning: post-trauma, sexual assault. With Suleiman, time redefined itself. Often, we didn’t have any need for words and we would only sit somewhere for hours, back to back or side by side, our bodies touching. And it was enough, for me. We lived inContinue reading “triggered – excerpt from “Taboos in Arabic” work-in-progress”
Category Archives: Taboos in Arabic
the first time – memory | experimental writing
I’ll be sharing some experimental writing here with you. Please feel free to give me feedback, as I am really just stumbling through the darkness with this. I do have to warn you that it might be difficult to read, as I am working on a novel where the main character is a survivor ofContinue reading “the first time – memory | experimental writing”
the last time – three versions
One of the most difficult issues to write about – for me – is sexual assault, especially when it comes to detailing a scene. I’ve been struggling with this scene for the last week, ending up with three versions. The first version ended up – quite unsurprisingly – something that we would wish could happenContinue reading “the last time – three versions”
Mourning – work in progress no.2
Sharing the second excerpt of the work-in-progress, tentative title Mourning. This piece has been emotionally difficult to write, as the character is a survivor of sexual molestation. You can read the first excerpt at: https://khuludkhamis.com/2016/11/05/mourning-work-in-progress/ I walk out to the garden, seeking a few alone moments. It is practically impossible to mourn someone – really mourn – inContinue reading “Mourning – work in progress no.2”
They chip away at your life – novel in progress
We buried Zahra in March. I stumbled through my final exams, sleepless, bleary-eyed, insomniac. All I knew was that I had to get through the exams somehow, because that was my future. But I also knew I couldn’t stay there one minute more than I had to. If I did, I would either have toContinue reading “They chip away at your life – novel in progress”
Hayat | in her voice | a woman’s monologue
just a fragment from my current work-in-progress. raw and unedited. Hayat | in her voice | a woman’s monologue I will tell her everything tonight. Not because I need to justify my choices or defend them in any way, not because she deserves to know the truth, and not because I feel any need toContinue reading “Hayat | in her voice | a woman’s monologue”
“Taboos in Arabic” excerpt from novel-in-progress
I am back at my writing desk, as finally the characters of “Taboos in Arabic” know how they want to progress with the narratives of their stories. I am sharing with you here a fragment of Bisan’s beginnings in Haifa. Autumn 2013 – Bisan Bisan stands in front of the large shop and glares withContinue reading ““Taboos in Arabic” excerpt from novel-in-progress”
Mourning (work-in-progress)
The opening of my new work-in-progress, Mourning. This character came to me two nights ago, as I was falling asleep, and she kept walking in my head all night long, until I could no longer bear it. She is demanding from me to put aside the two big writing projects I’m currently working on, andContinue reading “Mourning (work-in-progress)”
Who’s afraid of a woman in Hijab?
My fiction writing is based on reality, thus – fictionalized realities. The following fragment from “Taboos in Arabic,” the manuscript-in-progress, is based on actual incidents that happened during Israel’s military attack on Gaza in the Summer of 2014. The whole country is on fire. And not because of the Tammuz heat. Another military attackContinue reading “Who’s afraid of a woman in Hijab?”
Borders of language and identity
Another self-contained fragment of “Taboos in Arabic,” the novel I’m currently working on. Living in Haifa, one cannot get away from themes of language and identity, the intersections between them, how they are defined by location, and the complex realities they create. Borders of identity and language in Haifa are all delineated and defined byContinue reading “Borders of language and identity”
Writing in the Margins 