About this episode

Huda Al-Marashi discusses her writing journey and turning personal experiences into fiction.

Writer and author Huda Al-Marashi writes for both children and adults. She is a coauthor of the middle grade novel Grounded, which won the Walter Dean Myers Honor award, and the author of the memoir First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story. Her other writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and al Jazeera. She is a fellow and mentor with the Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Program. Her short story “Not Only an Only,” was featured in the celebrated anthology ONCE UPON AN EID. Her new book is a middle grade novel titled, Hail Miriam, just out from Penguin. Listen in as she and I discuss turning one of her own life events into fiction, and so much more. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know. To learn more, join The Memoir Project free newsletter list and keep up to date on all our free webinars, instructive posts and online classes in how to write memoir, as well as our talented, available memoir editors and memoir coaches, podcast guests and more.

People in this episode

Guest: Huda Al-Marashi

Topics covered

• writing
• memoir
• children's literature
• fiction

Keywords

• Grounded
• First Comes Marriage
• Hail Miriam
• Muslim Storytellers Program

Mentioned in this episode

Products: The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life, Hail Miriam

Books & works: Grounded, the Walter Dean Myers Honor award, First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story, Not Only an Only, ONCE UPON AN EID, Hail Miriam, The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life

More episodes of QWERTY: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life

• Ep. 162 Matti Friedman · March 27, 2026 · 32 min
• Ep. 161 Shelley Noble · March 13, 2026 · 26 min
• Ep. 160 Antonio Michael Downing · February 27, 2026 · 26 min
• Ep. 159 The Kansals · February 13, 2026 · 29 min
• Ep. 158 Tarpley Hitt · January 30, 2026 · 32 min
• Ep. 157 Melissa Fraterrigo · January 16, 2026 · 28 min

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