Radio interview Dec 16th, 2022
Radio interview Dec 16th, 2022
"A novice poet delivers intriguing meditations on culture, politics, and humanity." Kirkus Reviews
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/--131/a-piece-of-me/ A PIECE OF ME an arrangement of words to inspire reflection A physician offers a cultural critique in free verse. In this “arrangement of words,” Ahmad grapples with his identity as a Muslim and a Pakistani immigrant in the post–9/11 American Midwest. “I use the written word to emote, often untamed and exact out of my heart,” he tells readers in the introduction. He begins by considering “your average Muslim Joe and Mary,” who are rejected both by Muslim fundamentalists for not being “Muslim enough” and by Americans for being too different. As a cardiologist, he contemplates “the disparity of effort between the acts of saving life and taking life. One is so hard, difficult, and temporary. The other seems so easy, effortless, and permanent.” He rails against the Muslim registry proposed by President Donald Trump in 2016 in “American Shame,” while in “Where Are the Mandelas, the Gandhis of This Century?” he wonders where the...