WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE by Samra Habib (Viking) has been selected as finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards in the category of Lesbian Memoir/Biography. For over 30 years, Lambda Literary has championed LGBTQ books and authors, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve our legacies, and affirm the value of our stories and our lives.This year’s finalists were selected by a panel of over 60 literary professionals from more than 1,000 book submissions from over 300 publishers. Finalists will be celebrated and winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang the evening of Monday, June 8, 2020 in New York City.

For a full list of the honorees, please visit: https://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/current-finalists/

Samra Habib has spent most of her life searching for the safety to be herself. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, she faced regular threats from Islamic extremists who believed the small, dynamic sect to be blasphemous. From her parents, she internalized the lesson that revealing her identity could put her in grave danger.

When her family came to Canada as refugees, Samra encountered a whole new host of challenges: bullies, racism, the threat of poverty, and an arranged marriage. Backed into a corner, her need for a safe space–in which to grow and nurture her creative, feminist spirit–became dire. The men in her life wanted to police her, the women in her life had only shown her the example of pious obedience, and her body was a problem to be solved.

So begins an exploration of faith, art, love, and queer sexuality, a journey that takes her to the far reaches of the globe to uncover a truth that was within her all along. A triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one’s truest self.

Samra Habib is a writer, photographer, and activist. As a journalist she’s covered topics ranging from fashion trends and Muslim dating apps to the rise of Islamophobia in the US. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Advocate, and her photo project, “Just Me and Allah,” has been featured in Nylon, i-D, Vanity Fair Italia, Vice, and The Washington Post. She works with LGBTQ organizations internationally, raising awareness of issues that impact queer Muslims around the world. We Have Always Been Here is her first book. Samra is represented by Samantha Haywood.

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