Interview: Furqan Mohamed, Author of A Small Homecoming

Furqan Mohamed (she/her) is a writer from Toronto. Her work centers around culture and social justice, and is often inspired by her diaspora, community, and the stories that can stem from the shared human experience. She currently serves as Culture Editor for mimp magazine, with her work appearing in Feels Zine, The Vault by With/out Pretend, Room magazine, Maisonneuve, Toronto Life, Maggie, and THIS Magazine, among others. Her debut collection of poetry and prose, “A Small Homecoming,” was recently published by Party Trick Press. She is a former Journalism Fellow at The Local and is currently studying as an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. 

Congratulations on your recent debut chapbook, A Small Homecoming, a collection of poetry and prose. This is huge! Please tell us all more about it.

Thank you! What a question. The official, audience-oriented answer is that my chapbook is about identity— the forces shaping who I am, how I am, and what it means to be in my body and community as a Black Muslim woman. My chapbook, as a mix of poetry, prose, and essays, is also about my journey so far as a writer. I hope it resonates with people of all ages, at all stages of life, but especially for other young writers looking to express themselves. I feel so proud of this little body of work and the reception it has received. 

What's it like publishing your first book during a pandemic?

Natahna and Megan (the brains of the operation!) reached out to me in November of last year and graciously extended an invitation to publish with them. I'm about to celebrate the first anniversary of our first interaction, and I'm certainly going to get emotional about it! A few years back, I actually tried to publish a collection of poems myself, with some self-publishing platform. Please don't go looking for it! I think the link is still on the internet, floating somewhere in the ether, but the project is gone. The experience taught me a lot, and my friends were super supportive but didn't bear any fruit.

I've said this before, but it is so nice to look at the fruit on the cover of A Small Homecoming, sitting there, like it's been waiting for a while— because it has! When Party Trick Press reached out to me, it felt like the right thing at the right time. I've been a freelance writer for a couple of years now, and I have wanted to write a short collection for a long time. I was unsure how to go about it and even doubted myself a little. Having the reassurance and the support of the PartyTrick team and from other freelance writers encouraged me immensely. There was one challenge I could not but should have seen coming— publishing during a pandemic is what you think it is! Lots of Zoom meetings and loooots of decisions made over email. Looking back, to advice that I would give myself, and to any writer wanting to publish their work is to trust themselves and their intuition, but to also be willing to trust other editors and eventually readers with their work— that requires a bit of vulnerability, which is difficult in any context but especially with writing, I think. It was easy to trust the Party Trick team, which made the editing and eventual publishing process easy and enjoyable. 

A Small Homecoming by Furqan Mohamed

The theme of community has always been at the center of your work - what are your thoughts on this?

I honestly did not realize this until recently! I believe it's because of the way I was raised. We are all a product of our surroundings to some extent, and being raised Somali and Muslim, I understand community to be a major force that grounds me. Both my culture and faith emphasize being connected with our surroundings. I wrote an essay on the subject of community for Room last year and an article for The Local on vaccines during Ramadan, and the reception to both was truly kind. I wrote these pieces during a pandemic that made us all reconsider our society, the ways we relate to one another, and even ourselves, which is probably what made me want to write them in the first place. In her novel "Beloved," Toni Morrison, (who I just absolutely have to mention as she is my north star!) focuses on the ways that without community, we cannot find self-affirmation which makes it harder to form our identities. For me, writing about community has been a huge part of figuring out who I am. I will honour my community any chance I can get, and through that, I can honour myself. 

This is my favourite question to ask fellow writers: do you remember the moment where you fell in love with writing?

I can't recall a specific memory, but I remember being young and stuffing books inside my pillowcase at bedtime so I could read after my parents said lights-out. I have always loved reading and writing. It’s like breathing air to me. I think that being a good writer necessitates being a good reader. I looked forward to English and Media Literacy in school and wrote from a place of pure enjoyment. I was very fortunate to have teachers and family members who encouraged me, and in my early years, I was fortunate to submit to essay contests and online blogs, (Remember Blogger? LOL!) I treasured receiving emails and DMs on Instagram after posting certain pieces and feeling very proud that my work meant something to someone. I made quite a few internet friends that way, with some of them going on to be collaborators of mine!  

If you could have a one-hour lunch with anyone, dead or alive today, who would it be and why would you choose that person? 

I wrote about my great-aunt Hasna, who I called Mama Hasna, in an essay that was republished in Maisonneuve. She stayed with us when I was young and passed away when I was in the first or second grade. She was a compassionate and generous person who loved me and my family and never let us forget it. Mama Hasna used to give my mother cash to break into toonies, which she would then give to us for the ice-cream truck when it would come by the neighbourhood. Naturally, we would go on an ice-cream date and I would tell her everything that has happened since we last saw each other. If I could have one more hour with her I would take it in a heartbeat. 

Finally, how can readers support you and A Small Homecoming?

What a thoughtful question! You can support me by reading and sharing my work, and support “A Small Homecoming” by purchasing it at partytrickpress.com (you get the digital chapbook along with beautiful screensavers!) By doing so, you’re also allowing Party Trick to support their current and new authors. As a freelance writer, my work is possible thanks to the independent publications that give my work a home in the first place and encourage writers to share their talent. You can support me by supporting small and local zines, and magazines like Isa, Maggie, and mimp! And if you can, please take the time to support excellent independent publications like Maisonneuve, THIS Magazine and The Local by purchasing a subscription. Not only do they produce great work, but they also continue to support (and pay! $$$) writers like myself while telling stories that highlight overlooked communities and keep us all informed on important issues.

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You can find more of Furqan at furqanmohamed.com, or find her shorter musings on Twitter @heyfurqan and on Instagram @hellofurqan.

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