Author: Maz Halima

Writer, Londoner, Grime music lover, cat owner, glasses wearer, hug giver.

Poems

Not Your Spice Girl

Much of South Asian literature is themed around food – milk and honey, saffron and cinnamon, jalebis and gulab jamuns, turmeric and mangos. Our food is electric in hues, decadent, an explosion of flavour, medicinal in nature.

I get why food takes centre stage in South Asian literature; alot of our parents expressed their love through food. While South Asian cooking is a part of my identity – after all, our ancestral land was colonized in some part for those commodities – it’s not a significant part of my story as a person.

Tags heritage, Lahore, london, motherland, Pakistan, parents, poem, poetry, spices, turmeric, woc, womenwriters

Thinkpieces

The Churel and other mythical legends

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date February 24, 2020
No Comments on The Churel and other mythical legends

For hundreds of years in Dominican folklore, people have spoken of the legend of ‘La Ciguapa’ – a beautiful woman who can be found roaming through the trees at night. She has dark features, piercing eyes and hair that swings past her waist; the only way you can tell she’s something other than human is by her backwards facing feet. La Ciguapa’s hypnotic beauty usually reels men in before they notice the oddity below her ankles – and then she eats them alive.

Tags adam and eve, Adele Florence Nicholson, chudail, churail, churel, Dominican, feminism, folklore, India, La Ciguapa, legends, Lilith, medusa, mermaid, myths, Pakistan, succubus, witches, women in history

Poems

Dictator

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date February 18, 2020

Dictator, your love is cruel and commanding

You hand it out in drips and drabs so I’m euphoric when you mark my skin and make my insides ache

This is how you retain power for inconceivable lengths of time

Tags asian writer, emotional abuse, love, love drought, pakistani, poetry, woc

Work

I spoke about love in the Guardian

Post author By Maz Halima
Post date January 29, 2020
No Comments on I spoke about love in the Guardian

Hello, it’s me. Last month (December 2019) The Guardian published a piece on the 1969 Divorce Reform Act, reflecting on how it has impacted and shaped families since. The piece was written by thee amazing Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, who asked me to take part after reading my work on the complexities of how your own family structure goes on to shape your personal relationships as an adult. You can read the piece here or scroll on to take a peek of it.

Tags Divorce reform act, family, maz halima, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian, Weekend, weekend magazine

Thinkpieces

On ‘The Afghan Girl’

I want to start noting stories that deserved more than they received, so here goes. ‘The Afghan Girl’ is one of the more known stories when it comes to exploration of eastern narratives. I always felt a strange connection with this photo – I saw it when I was a teenager and I immediately felt like I could have been her, she could have been me, life is a bizarre lottery.

Tags Afghan girl, Afghanistan, national geographic, Pakistan, refuge, refugee camp, Sharbat Gula, soviet, steve mccurry, war

Poems

Depressive Episode

I like my breakdowns to be guilt-free, dignified

Which is why when you text asking how I’m am, I reply ‘fine’

Tags depression, episode, mental health, poetry

Poems

The Waiting Room

I saw my neighbour in the waiting room

She smiled at me as if we were just passing each other on the street

Tags CBT, Croydon, lithium, medication, mental health, poetry, therapy, waiting room, women, women of colour

Work

Watch: My BBC Short Film

In May 2019, Muslims around the world fasted for the holy month of Ramadan. As someone who has experienced mental health issues, it can be a difficult time of year to stay focused and motivated, especially when you have no family around to encourage you, and work long hours.

Depression, anxiety and fasting for 18 hours; @MazHalima shows us what a day during #Ramadan is like for her as she wakes at 2am, talks mental health with an imam, and tells us why it’s all worth it.#Ramadan2019 pic.twitter.com/sAGWkUmauw

— BBC Stories (@bbcstories) May 31, 2019

Tags bbc, bbc stories, fasting, Islam, maz halima, mental health, Muslims, ramadan, religion

Thinkpieces

Life Lessons Turning 30

quote

I recently turned 30, and it was bittersweet – I don’t miss my twenties; I can look back and say although heightened self-awareness brought more anxiety, I am a better person than I was a decade ago. As I welcomed a new era, I saw myself for who I was and the wisdom I gained and it felt significant, character strengthening.

Tags aging, birthday, control, ego, lessons at 30, life is too short, life lessons, self esteem, self love, thirty, turning 30, what happens at 30, women

Poems

Long Distance

It was only when I saw you again that I understood how broken I’d been

I hadn’t seen you since the last full moon, every phone call we had turned violent with frustration

So in the unwanted absence of you I’d gone into survival mode

Tags long distance, long distance relationship, love, poem, poetry, women of colour