HASAN NAMIR
Author Website
I would like to acknowledge the shared, unceded traditional territory of the Katzie,
Semiahmoo, Kwantlen and other Coast Salish Nations on which I work, play and learn.
Banana Dream
Picture Book
A young boy in Iraq yearns to taste the bananas that have been made unavailable by warfare.
Banana Dream is inspired by Hasan’s own childhood in Iraq, where bananas (among other things) were not available due to war. In North America, they are plentiful and inexpensive, but in this story, they represent something longed for but unattainable. With simple prose, Hasan addresses the relatable issue of a child coming to terms with his name against a unique story of scarcity and want. An author’s note provides some helpful context about the feel of this particular time and place.
This picture book explores a unique perspective on a fruit that’s often overlooked in North America, giving readers insight which sheds light on a place and time with which they might not otherwise be familiar.
Available now!
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.
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:
Reviews
Media Appearances
2024/2025
2024/2025 Chocolate Lily Awards Shortlist
Picture Book Nominee: Banana Dream by Hasan Namir, illustrated by Daby Zainab Faidhi (Neal Porter Books)
SEP 20 2022
PERSONAL ESSAY: An epic love story between an Iraqi Arab and a Punjabi Sikh
“All I wanted was to make my family happy, until I found what made me happy”
Xtra Magazine/Pink Triangle Press
JAN 14 2022
The Vancouver Sun: Vancouver poet Hasan Namir celebrates love, joys of same-sex parenthood
Emotional axis of Hasan Namir’s book links his joyous bond with his son and painful, profound bond with his baffled, somewhat homophobic father.
Tom Sandborn
DEC 14 2021
CBC Books: The best Canadian poetry of 2021
Umbilical Cord is a collection of joyous free-verse poems that chronicle Hasan Namir’s journey to fatherhood. The book is brimming with hope and love, as Namir writes love letters to his new son, recounts how he and his husband fell in love and documents the complicated process of IVF and surrogacy.
Hasan Namir
DEC 2 2021
q with Tom Power
Hasan Namir on Umbilical Cord and the importance of queer family literature
Award-winning Canadian author and poet Hasan Namir joined Tom Power to discuss his new poetry book, Umbilical Cord, inspired by his first year of parenthood.
Hasan Namir
nov 22 2021
The Chat with Hasan Namir
Poet Hasan Namir has produced a moving and complex portrait of fatherhood in his latest work, the poetry collection Umbilical Cord (Book*hug). Today he joins us on The Chat.
Hasan Namir
nov 5 2021
Writers Festival
Danny Ramadan hosts this conversation on poetry, parenthood and hope with Lambda Literary and Stonewall Award-winner Hasan Namir and his book of poetry, Umbilical Cord.
Hasan Namir
july 9 2021
Bookhug Press• Toronto, ON
Umbilical Cord Promo Video!
Hasan Namir
CTV Saskatoon • Saskatoon, SK
The Name I Call Myself
Hasan Namir & Cathryn John
Events
November 2023
Family Holiday Book Pop-Up & Reading
Childrens, middle-reader, and YA fiction and non-fiction with authors Tanya Boteju, Jillian Christmas, Tony Correia, Hasan Namir, Emily Pohl-Weary, Holman Wang and Andrea Warner. Join Hasan Namir as one of the authors on Nov 25 @ 1PM
MAy 2023
Surrey Muse Program
Surrey Muse is an inclusive space initiated by writers, performers and artists who want to excel in our art, who strive to create supportive platforms for ourselves and our peers, and who wish to bring together through art and literature Surrey’s diverse communities. Join Hasan Namir as author on May 27.
MAR 2023
Languagelessness: The Joy of Reconciling Between Languages and Form in Poetry
With Languageless: The Joy of Reconciling Between Languages and Form in Poetry workshop, I invite aspiring poets to join me on this writing journey to find ways to reconcile between languages and experiment with words and form and how the writing process will bring joy. I will share my experience writing poems in more than one language and I will be using poetry examples from my book. There will be a lot of opportunities to write poems and experiment with languages. I look forward to working with you on this interactive workshop. Writing poetry can be the most joyful experience, Mar. 4.