Hebah Uddin

Major

Fine Arts (Creative Writing)

Degree

Masters

School

Hamline University

Sponsor 2019

ISF-Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno (ICCF) Scholarship

Bio

Hebah Uddin is a born and raised New Yorker, with a loving, large extended family and the rather trying experience of being the eldest sibling in her particular clan. She holds a BA in English Literature from Hofstra University (College of Liberal Arts and Honors College) and is currently pursuing a Masters in Fine Art (Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults) from Hamline University’s prestigious MFAC program. Already, in her first semester of study, she has been honored with the T.A. Barron Fellowship for Emerging Fantasy Writers, bestowed on one incoming student per semester.

Previously, she has been an 2017 honoree on NBC Asian America’s Redefining A-Z list, featuring up and coming talent within the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. Her work in children’s literature, intersectional feminism and Muslim representation has been featured on Entertainment Weekly, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, Book Riot, Shondaland and Teen Vogue, among others. She was also a founding member of the non-profit organization We Need Diverse Books.

As Karuna Riazi, Hebah’s middle grade debut, The Gauntlet, was published in March 2017 under Simon and Schuster’s historical Muslim-focused imprint, Salaam Reads. It was featured multiple times on Entertainment Weekly, nominated for state reading lists and book awards, and was a Parents Choice title, among other honors, and has been translated into three languages. The Gauntlet‘s companion, The Battle, will release on August 27, 2019.

Hebah believes very strongly in the importance of American Muslims being able to reclaim their own narratives, and in the power and potential of their community’s own storytellers to reach the next generation. She is currently a freelance writer and a high school English and creative writing teacher at an Islamic K-12 charter school.

Areas of interest

Writing/English