May 21 – South Asian Author Panel

Sumbul Ali-Karamali is an award-winning author and speaker on Islam and Muslims. Sumbul grew up in Southern California and earned her B.A. in English from Stanford University, as well as her J.D. from the University of California at Davis. After practicing corporate law, she earned a graduate degree in Islamic law from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. She has taught Islamic Law and has served as a research associate at the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law in London. Sumbul serves on the steering committee of Women in Islamic Spirituality and Equality and is a member of the Muslim Women’s Global Shura Council, both of which aim to promote women’s rights and human rights from an Islamic perspective. Her first book, The Muslim Next Door: The Qur’an, the Media, and that Veil Thing,  was a winner of the 2009 Independent Publisher’s Awards. Her third book, Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It’s Not Taking Over Our Country, was released in August 2020. In her free time, Sumbul enjoys opera, white-water rafting, and watching Star Trek reruns with her family.

Anniqua Rana’s debut novel, Wild Boar in the Cane Field,  was shortlisted for Pakistan’s UBL Literary Award 2020.  She co-founded the blog tillism.com Tillism طلسم – Magical Words from around the World.  Her writings on gender, education, and books have appeared in TNS, Naya Daur TV, International Education, Ravi Magazine, Bangalore Review, Fourteen Hills, The Noyo River Review, Delay Fiction, Listening to the Voices: Multi-ethnic Women in Education, and other publications. Her doctorate in International Education focused on the implications of technology for women of Pakistan in higher education. She has taught at San Mateo Community Colleges, University of San Francisco, Lahore University of Management Sciences, and Stanford University.  She travels, writes, and lives between California and Pakistan.