Fawzia Gilani-Williams, PhD

Asalaamu alaikum! How are you? Insh'Allah, I hope you are well. Would you like to know a little about me? If you do please read on!

I was born and raised in England. Both my mom and dad worked at a hospital where I would sometimes go and volunteer. I for sure thought that I would follow in their footsteps! But strangely I didn't. Very unexpectedly I became an elementary school teacher. And I'm glad that I did because I didn't realize how much I enjoyed working with children.

After I graduated and got married I moved to the USA. I took a number of different teaching postions in the USA and England. I also worked in Canada for a few years, so eventually I became an internationally experienced educator. Very early on, before I became a teacher I realized that there were very few books that gave visibility to children from minority groups. So eventually I worked to address this gap and write mirror books and window books which I hope, inshAllah, promote intercultural literacy, emotional and social flourishing. That just means knowing about people who are different and always being kind to everyone.

Some of the stories that I have enjoyed writing include the Islamic fairy tale series published by Kube. Because I worked as a teacher, my writing projects usually started off as classroom resources. It was always important to include ideas that encouraged prosocial choices. Titles in this series include Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Beauty and the Beast. Yaffa and Fatima Shalom Salaam, is another tale which underscores moral power, quiet heroism and multicultural cognizance. Again it's all about being kind. If you would like to see my other titles please click on My Books page. 

I currently work as a cluster librarian. In this position I manage elementary school libraries. Part of this role involves selecting reading material. This is a fun part of the job! I love it! The most favorite part, however, is reading to children! Being part of a child's literary experience is so wonderful. 

Like most educators and librarians in the Middle East, where I now work, I have noticed that there are not enough mirror books. This is why it is so important to create books that focus on this region. I have more to say about this on other pages. If you get time, inshAllah, please visit the Mirror and Window Books page. And if you want to write a book, but need help, please go to the Picture Book Writing Support page.

Would you like to know what other areas interest me? Well, here they are. I've made a list. 

1. children's positive identity formation
2. how to encourage people to write a picture book
3. moral literacy / character development & well-being
4. children’s literature
5. creative writing
6. Islamic critical theory
7. Islamic literary theory

Thank you for reading through this page. Before you go, I wanted to wish you health and happiness and I hope you are always safe. may God bless us all! Ameen.

Sending prayers of peace,

Fawzia

xxx