Fatimah Asghar Vulgar Geniuses

Fatimah Asghar shows us the many faces of sisterhood when tested by the constant waves of grief and neglect in their debut novel When We Were Sisters. Kausar, Alisha, and Noreen are suddenly orphans after the murder of their father and the death of their mother years prior. Their uncle takes the girls away from the only home they've ever known and forces them to grow up in a run-down apartment abandoned for weeks and sometimes without food and adult supervision.

We mark the end of our second literary year with our interview with Fatimah as they speak about the creative format of centering this story around the girls, while leaving the adults nameless and, at times, redacted. They also share what it was like to approach this story of grief during the early years of lockdowns and what it means to give one's self the permission to create beyond the limitations of others.