Writing
A selection of my published writing, including flash, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, essays, columns, interviews on craft & creativity, and copywriting.
Flash Fiction
No Contact | Best Microfiction Nomination '22
We descend from our former selves in the shape of rain, dropping into a soul. We time machine through the uncut grass...
* Read at the Bread Loaf Staff Reading in The Little Theater (August, 2023).
Lost Balloon | Best Small Fictions Nomination '22 + Wigleaf Top 50 Longlist Selection '22
The psychic across from the dollar pizza joint on East 6th Street told Rohan he'd die at the age of eighty-five. His cousin Navya smiled terrifically...
Nurture | Best of the Net Nomination '21
The keloid first appeared when I was seven years old. It began as a bump on my sternum and nudged me every day with a wave...
X-R-A-Y
"Sure, I've eaten cookies well into adulthood. Some days all I eat is one cookie. I break little bite-sized pieces off and revel in the..."
Ligeia
down by that river
who sits
in a chair facing that river.
I've never seen his face. He
sits close to that river, water
gushing at his feet, his beige boots...
Ligeia
His green irises were tunnels to a consciousness I could not deny. It was snowing outside. My mother dropped me off after school. In the northeastern town we lives in...
Orca | Print & Online
The portal appeared on the day we stopped eating meat. Wrapping our fifth fingers together in a pinky promise—the first time we ever did—it whirlpooled...
Maudlin House
Ma stored it next to the pull-out wastebasket under the sink. She hated it, but couldn't throw it out, knowing it made us happy: The Grilled Cheese Maker 3000...
Storm Cellar | Print Only
I was at a Mexican restaurant in the East Village eating an octopus tentacle. I made scrumptious ooh and ah sounds. The bartender said...
HAD
Dropping the bike, you drop yourself into the tree, like a puzzle piece, arms resting on either side, trusting the armchair of nature...
Longleaf Review | Best Small Fictions Nomination '23
I’d have just enough money to get me through the next seven days of the month. Depending on where you’re from, this might seem doable. But in The Big City, it’s only possible...
The Lit Pub
The snake made its appearance soon after the usual pool maintenance checkup. An orange band choked its neck—printed it dangerous. A line of black ink...
Passages North | Print Only
There was a famous writer who wrote long books. He loathed the little book trend. The dimming attention spans of people made him furious. Of course, what he really hated...
* Read at the Bread Loaf Staff Reading in The Little Theater (August, 2022).
Passages North | Online Feature & Print
Hello, I am Bo, the Robo Barista. Welcome to my cafe. I own this cafe outright. I am the owner. Welcome. Would you like a coffee?
Pacifica Literary Review | Pushcart Prize Nomination '23
He thought about his grandmother and how she would tell him stories of jinn, ancient trees, buraqs, and giant eagles. About accepting the whispers of nature...
Pacifica Literary Review
Everyday I grew. First, just a centimeter. Then two. Before long, I was the size of a raccoon. That spring, I proposed...
hex
Some day in November, I woke up to the sound of giggles. The plush surface of my pillow had deepened. Its shadows became wrinkles. Its creases formed a face...
Short Stories
Shenandoah
I’m not a fan of the capital “G” God school of thought anymore. Though, I cannot deny that participating, cherry-picking the goodness, is still therapy...
*Pull quote chosen by Editorial Staff to be featured on Issue Cover Page.
New World Writing
The man glares at me and then outside. He is not on the same page. He wants to run. He motions at the cash register. I open it and somehow say...
Litro | Editor’s Pick
She ushered me in. I stood in the living room I no longer lived in. Six years in this spatial arrangement. That’s an especially long time in city living. I moved precariously...
3:AM
You see, I’ve witnessed it myself. The minute she gets those green eyes, a wisp of mist like a loose thread pulled from an old garment comes undone from the victim’s selfhood...
Poetry
Many Loops
A holographic tunnel of light shot down from the city sky. As night fell, the bottom disc of the mothership lit up like a circuit board, and by the twilight of Wednesday morning it had gone...
Many Loops
A name my name
is a cloak draping introductions
quilting a conversation
this seems small
but for a long while...
Creative Nonfiction
Autofocus
The occasion is not Eid or Navroz. Chandraat, the new moon falling on a Friday, it is not. There are no shaadis. No one has been born and no one has died. It is a...
*Reprinted and featured as the story of the month at S'MAC eatery in the East Village of New York City for a 10,000 copy print run (June 17, 2022).
HAD
Road trip people are special people. They find happiness in vacancy signs. Lit up neon letters, backlit billboards, golden arches, waffle house announcements jutting...
* Supplemental essay in the Paragraph Form chapter of Jill Talbot's craft book, The Essay Form(s), forthcoming from Columbia University Press in 2023.
* Taught at the University of North Texas in Intro to Nonfiction in the Fall by Associate Professor of Creative Writing, Jill Talbot (September, 2022).
* Studied as an example story in Sara Chansarkar's Workshop, A World on a Page: Focus on the Story Setting at Crow Collective (June, 2022).
Column & Essays
No Contact
Percolate, pour over, aero press, quadruple extract. When it comes down to it, I don’t discriminate. Long as it’s hot, black, pure...
No Contact
It’s the best martini you’ll ever drink. Or is it? Technically it’s a spin-off: The Better Call Saul of martinis. E.B. White called the classic martini “the elixir of quietude.” Sounds like a snooze fest. I’m calling this varietal “the elixir of attitude.”
No Contact
I look around and see people conversing, catching up, the clink of ice cubes, the banter of a nearby conversation, he saids and she saids, the maraca of ice in a mixing glass...
No Contact
You've tried hard to learn these names and what they mean. But it's always at this hour when it all sounds the same. Hops. And more hops. Triple IPA. Some dudes...
No Contact
Here’s a pro-tip. The more millennial-sounding the branding, the more likely they’re pulling a fast one on you. Instead of buying the latest instagram influencer’s rosé...
No Contact
Relax your mind and take a sip of a cocktail so sharp, it will make you realize why cocktails exist in the first place. Composition, balance, and zing...
No Contact | Best American Food Writing 2022 (Distinguished)
It's your Dad's. Well, mine. Let me explain. Chai is a time machine in a cup. The ultimate means of transport on the freeway of memory. It is simply not the same for you...
No Contact
It is said that angels were created on Wednesday, jinn on Thursday, and humans on Friday. So next time you're looking for a ghoulish activity...
Interviews & Craft
Shenandoah
It is the part of ourselves we are constantly questioning and reshaping, hopefully leaning toward compassion, maybe considering moments...
Neighbors of New York | Podcast
The neighbors are joined by Suhail aka Swoop, Co-Founder of Saltwater, to discuss how he took a break from consulting to pursue writing and ended up running a coffee business...
Longleaf Review
Life often interjects. And that’s okay. Other things and people, work and love, are just as important. Otherwise, what is it all for?
Books In Progress
Electric Earth
Novel | Epic, Cli-Fi, Fabulism
An upmarket generational epic, Electric Earth explores Sufi mysticism & myth to tell the story of how climate change unites a dysfunctional family of jinn from 2000 -2100.
Big City
Novel | Social Satire
An esoteric novel made up of 365 entries of a brown barista's daybook, The Big City explores the metaphysics of city life, the craft of coffee, and the reclamation of American Muslim identity. With excerpts published in:
Constellation
Story Collection | Magical Realism, Metafiction
A collection of forty stories, Constellation, explores oddball characters, cracks in the world, and the stories thriving within them. With stories published in:
Copywriting
Saltwater
CPG Creative + Design + Copy
Managed branding iterations with exceptional designers, writing label copy for each iteration:
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Sales Collateral: Lookbook + Sell Sheet + Product Line
Platform Taxonomy Content Project
Managed team of writers & curators to build out thousands of content pages for Fortune 100 Technology & Social Media company's international roll-out of front-end platform feature.
Content, SEO, Mobile, & Social Copywriting
Supported $4M+ revenue in marketing solutions (across SEO, Content, Mobile, and Social Media), spanning 700+ clients and 8 Account Managers. Primary point of contact for 200+ SMBs and Fortune 500 brands (Whole Foods, Pizza Hut, AMC, etc.)
Treasurefy
Website, Blogs, Press Releases, Social
Managed all copy-related tasks ranging from B2B white papers for social media strategy to in-house writing projects, including sales-driven persuasive writing. Implemented a thought leadership plan, including writing SEO optimized blog posts on social media trends.
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Website Copy Samples:
Technical Copywriting + Website Content
Wrote articles for hundreds of SMBs across industries, using keyword techniques to rank high for SEO.
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Client Samples:
BranchOut
Technical Blogwriting + Platform Content
Managed internship program with 50+ interns, overseeing marketing campaigns at 11 universities, carrying out all copywriting (blog posts, company blog, and mobile app).
