HASAN NAMIR
Author Website
By Hasan Namir
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CATHRYN JOHN
The Name I Call Myself
Children’s Book
Selected as one of the best Canadian picture books of 2020 by CBC, The Name I Call Myself depicts Ari’s gender journey from childhood to adolescence in order to discover who they really are.
Throughout this beautiful and engaging picture book, we watch Ari grow up before our very eyes as they navigate the ins and outs of their gender identity
Moving from age six to adolescence, The Name I Call Myself touchingly depicts Edward’s tender, solitary gender journey to Ari: a new life distinguished and made meaningful by self-acceptance and unconditional love.
Find this at your local independent bookstore or visit one of these links:
By Hasan Namir
War/Torn
Book of Poetry
Lambda Literary Award-winner and best Canadian Poetry Book Hasan Namir’s debut collection of poetry, War / Torn, is a brazen and lyrical interrogation of religion and masculinity—the performance and sense of belonging they delineate and draw together. Namir summons prayer, violence, and the sensuality of love, revisiting tenets of Islam and dictates of war to break the barriers between the profane and the sacred.
Find this at your local independent bookstore or visit one of the links below:
By Hasan Namir
God in Pink
Fiction
The debut book by Hasan Namir is a revelatory novel about being queer and Muslim, set in war-torn Iraq in 2003. Ramy is a closeted university student whose parents have died, and who lives under the close scrutiny of his strict brother and sister-in-law. They exert pressure on him to find a wife, leaving him anguished and struggling to find a balance between his sexuality, religion, and culture. Desperate for counsel, he seeks the advice of Ammar, a sheikh at a local mosque, whose tolerance is challenged by the contradictions between Ramy’s dilemma and the teachings of the Qur’an, leading him to question his own belief system.
Find this at your local independent bookstore, or visit one of the links below:
Coming Soon!
Available FALL 2021
Umbilical Cord
Book of Poetry
Lambda Literary and Stonewall Book Award-winner Hasan Namir shares a joyful collection about parenting, fatherhood and hope. These warm free-verse poems document the journey that he and his husband took to have a child. Between love letters to their young son, Namir shares insight into his love story with his husband, the complexities of the IVF surrogacy process and the first year as a family of three. Umbilical Cord is a heartfelt book for parents or would be parents, with a universal message of hope.
Available SUMMER 2023
Banana Dream
Picture Book
Neal Porter at Holiday House/Neal Porter Books has bought world rights to Banana Dream by Hasan Namir, illustrated by Zainab Faidhi. The picture book is inspired by Namir’s own childhood enduring sanctions in Iraq, and explores a child’s coing to terms with his unusual name against a story of scarcity and want. Public is slated for Summer 2003; Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists represented the author, and the illustrator represented herself.
Award winning Author
Hasan Namir
Iraqi-Canadian author Hasan Namir (he/him) graduated from Simon Fraser University where he received a BA in English, and the Ying Chen Creative Writing Student Award. He is the author of God in Pink (2015), which won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Fiction and was chosen as one of the Top 100 Books of 2015 by The Globe and Mail. His work has also been featured on Huffington Post, Shaw TV, Airbnb, in the film God in Pink: A Documentary, Breakfast Television Toronto, CTV Morning Live Saskatoon. He was recently named a writer to watch by CBC books. He is also the author of poetry book War/Torn (2019, Book*Hug Press) and children’s book The Name I Call Myself (2020, Arsenal Pulp Press). Hasan lives in Vancouver with his husband and child.
Representation: Westwood Creative Artists
Agent for Adult Fiction – Emmy Nordstrom Higdon (they/them)
Agent for Children’s Literature – Hilary McMahon (she/her)
Media Appearances
CTV Saskatoon • Saskatoon, SK
The Name I Call Myself
Hasan Namir & Cathryn John
november 17 2020
CBC: The Early Edition • Vancouver, BC
Surrey Author pens book for kid who struggle with gender binary.
Hasan Namir
november 14 2020
The Name I Call Myself - Official IG Launch • Vancouver, BC
Author Hasan Namir & illustrator Cathryn John go live via Instagram to talk about their book the Name I Call Myself, do a reading and discuss the collaboration process!
october 22 2020
‘The Name I Call Myself’: A children’s book about self discovery • Toronto, ON
In award-winning author Hasan Namir’s first children’s book, ‘The Name I Call Myself’, illustrated by Cathryn John, we follow Edward’s tender, solitary gender journey through childhood to adolescence to Ari.
‘The Name I Call Myself’: A children’s book about self discovery • Toronto, ON
In award-winning author Hasan Namir’s first children’s book, ‘The Name I Call Myself’, illustrated by Cathryn John, we follow Edward’s tender, solitary gender journey through childhood to adolescence to Ari.
SesayArts Magazine: New picture book The Name I Call Myself depicts a young person’s journey to self-acceptance • Toronto, ON
How does it feel when the things that society deems “right” feel wrong for an individual?
Hasan Namir and Cathryn John’s touching new picture book The Name I Call Myself (Arsenal Pulp Press) explores a young person’s journey of gender identity and the wonder of being seen as who they truly are.
The Name I Call Myself • Canadian Picture Book Blog
This book is such a sensitive depiction of a child’s journey discovering who they are. Ari is called “Edward.” But that name doesn’t feel right. In fact, a lot of their life doesn’t quite feel right, like they are trying to fit into a mold of what a boy is supposed to look and act like. While they spend time wishing they were a girl, it isn’t until they go by Ari and see that they don’t fit into either mold that they are being themselves.
Events
June 6 2021
Poetic Justice Online Edition • Poetry New West
Poetic Justice Online Edition
Date: Sunday June 6, 2021
Time: 3:00 to 5:00 pm
Featuring:
Hasan Namir
Kyle Christensson
Open Mic sign up starts at 2:30pm.