Rayyan Al-Shawaf is a book critic and editor based in Malta. His reviews and essays have appeared in the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Globe and Mail, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, The Millions, Toronto Star, Truthdig, Washington Post, and elsewhere. His debut novel, When All Else Fails, will be published by Interlink Books in April 2019.
CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLES
Love in the Time of Slavery: On Ayesha Harruna Attah’s “The Hundred Wells of Salaga”
Rayyan Al-Shawaf reviews the layered and thought-provoking novel "The Hundred Wells of Salaga" by Ayesha Harruna Attah....
Between IS and God: What Must Be Understood
A top scholar of the Islamic State gets inside the story of the movement, but not enough inside its theology, says our reviewer....
The History of Popularity
Rayyan Al-Shawaf on David Hajdu's "Love for Sale: Pop Music in America."...
Is Islamist-Secularist a Contradiction in Terms?
How oxymoronic is “Islamic-Secularist”? Owen says plenty, but that some hybrid is inevitable....
A Chaotic Chronicle
Rayyan Al-Shawaf reviews Jessica Valenti’s memoir “Sex Object”....
Upbringing Is All
Daphne Merkin: “For people who have never had a childhood, being a grown-up isn’t where the glamour is.”...
Are There Universal Human Rights or Not?
Yes, Muslim women DO need saving, sometimes, says our critic....
