Hi <<First Name>>, 

Welcome to the July issue of Girl, Interrupting.

It’s been another busy month with mini-trips to Nottingham and Bradford for book-related events. Bradford Literature Festival was great fun, especially as I got to meet so many talented authors. You can have a look at my highlights from the festival.

On top of this, I got my very first peek at the hardback of Take It Back. (Eeek!)

In other (less good) news, I fractured a bone in my hand during my last horse riding lesson. I was four jumps into an assault course and lost both my stirrups at the same time (the footholds that help you stay balanced). I managed the fifth jump without them, but fell before the very last one. I landed on my right hand (my good one) and am now attempting my 1,400 daily word count one-handed. The good news is that my doctor’s going to pre-order Take It Back. :)

Now, that’s enough self-pity for one month. Let’s move on to the July issue.

A quick note

No July blog post

Sadly, there is no blog post this month given that I broke my hand and lost two writing days in the process. 

Girl, Interrupting is now a year old so perhaps this is a good time to look back on some of the posts you may have missed.

• Let's stop lying about class diversity
• The woman I want to be is rich
• The thing I miss most about London
• Me and my addict brother
• I suffered period poverty. Here’s what it was like

What I'm currently...

Reading: I read In Our Mad and Furious City by Guy Gunaratne, which I have to say I struggled with. Guy is undoubtedly a gifted writer and there were many moments where I marvelled at his prose (“The reverie drops off him in a blink”), but overall it didn’t work for me. I found it hard to settle into the book given its use of stylised street verse as well as its lack of speech marks (a pet hate of mine).

It’s worth noting, however, that the book has won several prizes and been longlisted for the Man Booker, so my opinion is clearly subjective. If it’s been on your TBR, I’d still urge you to read it.

Writing: I wrote about searching for puffins in the Faroe Islands over at Atlas & Boots.

Worried about: Not being able to use my right hand for six weeks!
 
Trying not to get angry about: A US Justice Department lawyer essentially arguing that children detained at the border do not need soap, toothbrushes or beds in order to be safe and sanitary.

Slayer

A short profile of a woman of colour who isn't taking prisoners

This month’s slayer is Ayisha Malik, the author of This Green and Pleasant Land which I mentioned in the April issue of Girl, Interrupting.

Ayisha has done that precious thing of existing as a Muslim woman in the public eye without pathologising the state of being a Muslim woman in the public eye. The author of two novels about Sofia Khan (‘the Muslim Bridget Jones’) and now This Green and Pleasant Land, Ayisha tackles weighty subjects like race, faith and identity, but with wit and humour instead of rage or righteousness.

Ayisha has contributed to anthologies A Change is Gonna Come and A Match Made in Heaven, and is also known for ghost-writing The Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain's books about the Amir Sisters. She was one of WH Smith's Fresh Talent picks 2016 and has been shortlisted for an Asian Women of Achievement Award as well as a Marie Claire Future Shapers Award.

You can follow Ayisha on Twitter and buy her book on Amazon or Waterstones.

In my Pocket

Five articles I saved to Pocket this month

• The last residents of the Hotel Bossert. What’s it like to live in a nearly abandoned building?, New York Magazine
• A working-class Welshwoman remembers her Oxford interview, The Times Literary Supplement
• What I learned poking around Amazon’s bookstore, The New York Times
• The best books to read at every age, from 1 to 100, The Washington Post
• For women, running is still an act of defiance, 1843

I’ll be back in touch on 1st August. As ever, if you have friends who would enjoy Girl, Interrupting, please forward this email to them.
 
Kia x