Episode 14: Rajia Hassib
Rajia Hassib discusses her second novel A Pure Heart. She explains her process of dramatizing the Arab Spring, contemporary Egyptian society, sisterhood, religion and secularism, the pursuit of purity, immigration, the importance of historical artifacts, and finding a sense of home in a foreign place.
About Rajia Hassib:
Rajia Hassib was born and raised in Egypt and moved to the United States when she was twenty-three. Her first novel, In the Language of Miracles, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and received an honorable mention from the Arab American Book Award. Her second novel, A Pure Heart, was one of Literary Hub’s Best Reviewed Books of the Week in August of 2019 and one of Real Simple’s Best Books of 2019, among other accolades.
She holds an MA in creative writing from Marshall University, and she has written for The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker online, and Literary Hub. She lives in Charleston, West Virginia with her husband and two children.
