Feb 10, 2017
Literary agents call for Muslim authors
Book publishers want to clap back at Islamophobia.
A group of literary agents has released an open call for submissions from Muslim authors.
The campaign is in response to President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order halting refugee resettlement and temporarily banning individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. Countries specified include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen ― all Muslim-majority countries.
While the ban is currently being contested in the courts, it appears to be indicative of a larger climate of Islamophobia that’s become all too common in the U.S. The publishing world has a role to play in reversing this trend. Books have always been a valuable socializing influence.
Part of the statement reads:
Literary agents are in a unique position to help contribute to bringing more empathy, compassion, understanding and tolerance into this world through books. We seek out unheard voices so that others can hear them.
We are a group of literary agents having an open call for book submissions by Muslim writers. We all agree that the current political climate demands a need for a greater presence of authors of Muslim heritage in the book marketplace. We are taking action to help make that happen.
