Alisha is an editor of We the Interwoven: An Anthology of Bicultural Iowa. These stories take us on a ride through the heart and the moral conscience as they explore how we find identity and make a future in an America that is still deciding its own.
Volume 1 brings us the stories of three Americans whose families have found a home in the heartland over the past two generations, representing their unique experiences and influences from not only Iowa but also the coast of Azerbaijan, the border towns of Mexico, and the archipelago of the Philippines.
Volume 2 introduces seven new voices who explore the theme of living between two worlds. These diverse stories speak of the undocumented immigrant struggle of a Dreamer, inherited Native trauma in the life of a young man coming of age, Bosnian-American cultural traditions, and Vietnamese-American filial debt, as well as an Egyptian mother’s gift to her daughter, an Armenian grandmother’s influence, and a young man’s discovery of hidden Puerto Rican heritage.
Volume 3 shares a view of American life through the eyes of seven of its newest citizens. Eyad Said and his young family must build a life together in the U.S. while contending with the horrors facing their people back in Syria. Palestinian American Dhuha Tawil grapples with her decision whether or not to wear the hijab. Shalini Jasti tries to balance her love of the English language with her mother’s desire to preserve her connection to their Indian culture and mother tongue. Vanessa “Cueponi Cihuatl” Espinoza tells of her first legal documents after crossing the Mexican–U.S. border as a child. In a moving letter to his parents, George Khal looks back on his life in Palestine, Egypt, and Iowa. Hibbah Jarmakani tells of her family’s struggle to create a new home in Iowa after leaving their generational home behind in Syria. After speaking truth to power as a journalist in Sudan, Salma Salama migrates to Cairo and then the United States, where she must start anew in her career, language, and community.
"Individually, these are beautiful personal stories of migration and transformation. Together, they are an essential text of contemporary history and geopolitics that everyone should be so lucky to read."
The Bicultural Iowa Writers’ Fellowship (BIWF) is the state’s first fully funded residency for emerging writers who are immigrants and non-native Iowans. The fellowship provides education, support, and resources from the renowned literary community of Iowa. It offers space and time for writers to explore their multilayered identities and the platform to share their stories with a statewide audience, including publication in the We the Interwoven book series.