Aaliyah Bilal

Aaliyah Bilal was born and raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland, in a working-class Sunni Muslim household. After high school, Bilal earned degrees from Oberlin College and the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, and her work—both fiction and non-fiction—focuses on Chinese and Afro-Diasporic experiences. Bilal began writing in 2010 and has published essays and short stories in Ummah Wide (which focuses on the global Muslim experience), The Michigan Quarterly Review, and The Rumpus. She also served as writer and producer of short films Solace and Sisters Outside, and an online series, Known Rivers. A collection of short stories about Black Muslims and the Nation of Islam, Temple Folk is Bilal’s first book. Published in 2023, it was a Finalist for the 2023 National Book Award in Fiction.