We were lucky to catch up with Sara Bawany recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have several meaningful projects I’d love to talk about.

I am currently an MFA student of Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry at Texas State University. The decision to go back to school to pursue another master’s degree – my ‘fun master’s’ I like to call it – was a huge one, but something that has already paid off so fully, I almost wish I’d done it earlier. It is such a blessing to be surrounded by others who are immersed in perfecting their own craft, those who love on language in the same way and can critique my own work with compassion but with skill. While in this program, I am an Instructional Assistant with the English department, and am the Assistant Managing Editor of the campus literary magazine, Porter House Review.

I am working on publishing my second poetry book with FlowerSong Press, with hopes for it to be released in October 2023. This project has been 5 years in the making and I can not believe it’s at its end! But it would have impossible for me to reach this point without the help of fellow creatives and writers, who have been an essential piece of my creative journey.

Finally, a big project is House of Amal (www.houseofamal.co) which is a small writing school with big dreams to expand one day into becoming something even bigger. We aim to serve all Muslim writers who are interested in working on their craft as well as publishing. This past year, we piloted our first cohort of writers and are working toward completion for their chapbook-length manuscripts. It has been a huge blessing to walk with them through this process and co-lead this initiative with our founder, Amal Kassir. I am learning how to teach, mentor, and edit through several different lenses and it is vastly improving my own relationship with writing and creativity as well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a licensed clinical social worker by profession who got into the creative space, especially online, through my branding as both a social worker and poet. I work at an organization called FACE (Facing Abuse in Community Environments) as the Director of Case Management, where I work towards our mission of driving focused cultural change among Muslims that leads to transparent survivor-centered community safety and leader accountability, outside the criminal legal system, for those who abuse their positions of trust and authority. In other words, we investigate allegations of abuse against Muslim religious and community leaders, substantiate them, notify the community, and provide support to numerous survivors, while educating institutions on prevention. It is a radical endeavor that I am proud to be a part of.

I am also a practicing therapist, and I see clients part-time through a private practice I am a part of called The Impact Counselors. FACE is my macro work, but therapy is my micro one-on-one work, and I enjoy both jobs very much, appreciating the diversity they bring to my week.

All of this work informs my work as a writer and I take daily inspiration from thought leaders and survivors alike about working toward justice, accountability and healing for my community. This shows up often in my poetry. My poetry and work as a social worker are intertwined with each other; one can not exist without the other.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I am inspired by the idea that we can write and create art and make meaning of an increasingly difficult world while maintaining balance in our own lives. That our faith can inform our politics which can inform our art. I spend a lot of time bringing the harsh reality of our communities and our world to light through being a social worker. The role I feel called to as an artist is to do that too, as well as bringing out some of the good, the beautiful, the powerful..

My identity as a Muslim woman is increasingly present in my writing. I want those who read my work to have no mistake or questions about who I am or how I represent myself. In spending so much time in the self-publishing community as a writer, I have pivoted now over into making a small dent in the academic literary community, of being able to say “here I am, and here are my people” and show up as authentically and humbly as possible.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In November of 2022, I got temporarily furloughed from my job, the main source of my income. Just 3 months earlier, I had entered into the MFA program at Texas State. As a result of both events, I ended up with several part-time jobs that have thrown off my traditional sense of stability. But now that I’m here, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yes, there are definitely things I need to do to still increase the stability but I love the many things I get to do throughout the week. In just 7 days, I get to provide therapy for clients, write reports on abusive leaders while meeting resilient survivors, be an instructional assistant in a sophomore-level English classroom, write/read/edit my own poems while hearing others’ poems in class and studying craft, and finally – teach and mentor Muslim youth aspiring to make creativity a solid part of their own lives. This doesn’t even include my own freelance editing work and volunteer work co-managing a literary journal, reading for another journal, and volunteering with a Muslim therapist networking group. It is such a privilege and gift to wear this many hats and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sarabawany.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sara.bawany
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarabawany/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-bawany/
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sara.bawany

Image Credits
40 Acres Photography Humza Ahmed TEDYouth@Austin American Islamic College