Umm Juwayriyah is a twenty-something born Muslim woman of West Indian ancestry and a mother of two. She holds an Associate of Arts degree in Communications and she is currently completing her Bachelors degree at Bay Path College. She is an elementary school teacher, the current editor for the New England Muslim Women's Association, a published poet, freelance writer, and the former assistant director of the Islamic Writers Alliance.
Umm Juwayriyah's started her own website and magazine young Muslim girls at the age of 16 and went on to publish many short stories, articles, and poetry written for others that can be found on many Muslim E-zine sites and print magazines such AZIZAH, SISTERS, An Nisah as Sunnah, and the Ny Sun. As a performance artist she has performed for audiences at Rochester Institute of Technology, Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College, Amherst College, the Hartford Convention Center, and many more. Additionally Umm Juwayriyah travels across the country speaking to Muslim and non Muslim youth groups, Muslim women groups, and on college campuses adressing issues such as Muslims and media, Muslims in print, the state of Muslim youth in the West, and growing up Muslim in America.
Organization and Group Membership/Affiliations
Member - Islamic Writers Alliance
Member - Islamic Writers women’s group
Member – Phi Theta Kappa Honors' Society
Member - New England Muslim Women's Association
Published Work
2009 - The Size of a Mustard Seed
2009 – Islamic Fiction stories published in the IWA Anthology: Many Voices, One Faith II – Islamic Fiction Stories
2009 – Poetry published in the IWA anthology: Many Poetic Voices, One Faith
2004 - Islamic Fiction story and poetry published in the IWA anthology: Many Voices, One Faith
1997-2010 - Non-fiction articles, poetry, interviews, book excerpts, and Islamic fiction stories published in Muslim publications: NEMSA NEWS, Adhaanul Mu'minaat (publisher/editor), An Nisah As Sunnah, IslamOnline.net, Islamic Ink magazine, Azizah magazine, SISTERS, and many more.
Awards
2009 winner of the Lorraine Hansberry's Performing Arts Scholarship
2006 winner of Canada's An Nisaa's Muslim Fiction Writer of the year Award
