Episode 263: She Wasn’t Allowed to Travel Alone, Now She’s Touring the World With Her Book | Shubnum Khan | Author & Artist
Shubnum Khan is a South African author, illustrator, and Muslim woman writer whose journey to creative freedom was anything but expected. In this episode, she talks with Kara about growing up in a conservative Muslim community, how travel opened her imagination, and why storytelling has the power to heal. They discuss her viral travel memoir, her breakout novel The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years, and how writing helped her find a life that felt like her own.
“When I feel really worked up about something, such as what’s happening in the middle east, I immediately need to draw and often those are my best pieces.”
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Chapters:
(00:00:01) – Writing, Politics, and Finding Her Place as a Brown Woman in South Africa
(00:03:15) – Studying English, Starting Over, and Finishing Her First Novel
(00:06:00) – Choosing Writing Over Art and the Dream of a Graphic Memoir
(00:09:00) – Boundaries, Confidence, and Letting Go of People Pleasing
(00:11:30) – Fighting to Travel Alone and Why Seeing the World Changed Everything
(00:15:00) – Grief, Rejection, and the Choice to Stay Soft
(00:20:30) – Single Women, Storytelling, and the Lives We Don’t Usually See
(00:27:00) – Her Breakout Book, U.S. Tour, and What’s Coming Next
Follow along using the Transcript
I want to kind of find that confluence between being able to share my experience as a writer, trying to figure out her place in the world, trying to express myself about politics and womanhood. Being a brown woman in South Africa.That's Shubnum Khan. I'm Kara Duffy, and this is the Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Welcome to the Powerful Ladies Podcast. Hi, thanks so much for having me here. Let's begin by telling everyone your name, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
My name is Shubnum Khan, and I'm from Durban. It's on the east coast of South Africa. And I'm a writer and an artist.
You know, you, I'm very excited because your debut U.
S. and U. K. novel is, you know, finally available. But you've written many books before, in addition to being an artist. If you go back to eight year old you, would she have imagined that this is the life you have today? Yeah,
that's such an interesting question. I think when I was eight years old, I loved reading a lot.
And so I, I did imagine writing stories. Okay. But I also don't know if I thought it was a viable place for me to be like, I also was also thought like, from the time I was little, that, that you're supposed to be a wife and a mother and get married. And so those seemed like much bigger dreams to me than being a writer.
So I think it was a dream in the back of my mind, but I don't know if I actually thought it would be. What
was your journey to becoming an artist and an author?
You know, I didn't, I never knew what I wanted to study when I finished school. And I dropped out of a lot of different degrees. I started, my dad's an architect and I started an architecture degree and I realized it was so technical and I was just artistic.
And so I left that. And then I went to another city and studied like a year of fine art and that didn't work out. And so I basically fell into an English degree, which I didn't know what I was going to do with. But when I did a third year course, which was a creative writing degree I realized that I was actually doing something that I had been dreaming of.
And so I took that creative writing degree onto a master's in English here in South Africa. And that's kind of like how it forced me to write a full length novel, because I don't think I would have. Forced myself to have done it before that. And it also opened up a whole world of possibility to me because it put me in touch and in contact with people who I might not have usually been in contact with, who showed me that you can actually write and you can actually, there's lots of books out there and there's so much to learn.
And it made me take writing very seriously, which I had not been doing before.
You know, people think about writing a novel and it just seems so overwhelming that they just stop. They have this idea and they just freeze in place. Did you have an author coach? Was it professors, mentors, like who was helping you go through that process of writing?
Yeah. Yeah. holding yourself accountable and actually getting the manuscript done.
I think when you do it as a master's in creative writing, it's a, it's basically a dissertation. So your supervisor is basically behind you all the time, like telling you, you have this deadline and I work very well like that.
This is my second novel took me so long because It took me like almost eight, nine years because I didn't have anyone pushing me and I was so used to someone being behind me telling me what to finish. So for that first novel, it's just your supervisor, like, you know, telling you, you need to get this done.
You need to get that done. Why don't you go in this direction with your writing? Why don't you try this? Why don't you read this? It's like the end. And also fundamentally I realized the power of community because I had not been sharing my writing before that. But part of the creative writing course was that you had, you met once a week with a group of other writers who would look at your work and you would look at their work.
And you'd get feedback which I didn't realize but which was so fundamental to how my, to my novel coming to life, to my novel being perfected into the way it was. I mean to, you know, basically just to get it, to get it into a story that readers would read. Whereas before it was just me sitting in my own head, but then at least you have other people to share your story with.
So that also, the course also made me realize it's so important to do things with others.
Now that you have your second book out, done, are you thinking that it's going to become something that you lean in on more? Like, how are you going to be balancing being an author and being an artist?
Yeah, it's a, it's a tricky place to be because I can't do both at the same time.
If I'm drawing, I can't write. If I'm writing, I can't draw. They both require like a certain level of creativity. that I have to give in to completely. I can't, I can't deal with them at the same time. So I haven't actually, I've been doing a little bit of drawing, but I actually haven't drawn properly, intensely for a long time because I was working on the writing for so long.
And so for me, primarily, I think the writing will always, I think in these situations where you, you have so many things that you're juggling, you have to figure out which one is your priority because You know, they, they both could end up just becoming mediocre. Like which one do I want to apply myself more to?
And so I think for me, I realized that writing is my true passion. I love drawing, but and it, and it, and it lets me feel free in a, in a different way, but I think writing stimulates something inside me that needs to. Like that flame that needs to be kept burning, those embers that need to keep burning for yourself, for who you are, and I think writing does that for me.
So I think my priority will always be writing and, and the drawing will always come secondary to that.
So we found you from finding your drawings on Instagram and your art, you know, has said that it covers Womanhood and transformation, identity, culture, and your drawings lately have been getting shared a lot because of what you're covering from a cultural perspective.
Did you intend to use your art to talk about what's happening in culture and your thoughts on it? Or Was it just naturally where you wanted to, you know, tell stories and talk about through your art?
I mean, that's interesting. I didn't realize you came to me through my drawings. I thought it was through my novel.
Yeah, I think, look, if I had more time and more energy, I would, I want, I want to kind of find that confluence between just being being able to share my experience as, a writer trying to figure out her place in the world, trying to express myself about politics and womanhood and being a brown woman in South Africa.
And I want to talk about those everyday experiences. And I know sometimes you can do it in a beautiful way through drawing. You can tell a whole story just like in a few brushstrokes, you know, and it's fun and you engage people that way. And, and also people nowadays don't have. Attention. They're not going to read like an entire book and get the same story.
They might just want to see it in an image. And I, and I think images are powerful. So I wish I could, like, my dream is to one day do a graphic novel about being single my whole life and you know, traveling and, and having these experiences and adventures and trying to figure out my place in the world.
And I mean, I would love to do that, but you know, it's all time. It's all time management. Like, can you do everything, but, but, but I think it's important. And so I do try to, especially when I feel very worked up about something like current situation, political situations, and what's happening in the middle East, like when I feel really worked up about it, I I want to, I'll just sit down and I think those are my best pieces.
I haven't planned them. It's just, I'm so overcome by emotion. I'll just like immediately draw something and put it up on social media, you know, and those are the best ones that I do actually, because they come from a place of think pure intention.
Sure. You know, you mentioned what's your place in the world.
What do you think your place is right now?
I mean, that's a, that's a difficult question, but I think it's I'm figuring out who I am right now. And I think that's a good place to be. I like, I know what I want. I know what I don't want. I know who I want to be around, who I don't want to be around, what energy I want around me, what I want to invest in.
It's, it's a beautiful place in that, in that sense, you know, and. I think also what's wonderful about it is that I know bad things happen, and bad things will happen. But it's how you face those moments, and how you, if you know yourself, and you, you know what you stand for, and who you are, it's easier to bear those moments, because those moments will come in life all the time. And so yeah, I'm proud of myself in that sense that I know that I know these things and I feel like a different person from 10 years ago, completely different person. So yeah.
What are some things that are your must haves or who do you want surrounding yourself with? How would you describe some of those things?
I mean, I, I just know what, like if I, if I meet somebody and you know, There's a certain way and I just know immediate, before I would want everyone to love me and I would want to be everyone's friend and I think when you get older you realize I don't need to be friends with everybody and actually time is short.
Yeah, time is, I'm sure there are many women who say this on the podcast, like they know what they want, they know who they are and time is short. And you don't want to invest your, your time into anyone who doesn't deserve to be there, you know, so anyone who doesn't, and you know, you don't always align, you have the same alignments with everybody else.
You're not going to see eye to eye with everyone else. So, so that's okay. But if I just, I meet someone that I know that I don't want to be around, I'm not going to try to make them like me as maybe I did five, 10 years ago. I'm just like, well, that's okay. But I know who I am and I'm happy with my life and I'm surrounded by the people I want to be.
So it's okay. I don't really need you in my life. No matter how important you may be. I, I don't, you know? Yeah. Yeah.
Well, you know, you mentioned how much you have traveled and love traveling. How has that changed your perspective on what you have wanted and where you think your place is?
I think traveling has intertwined a lot with my love for reading and writing because from the time I was a young girl and I was reading I was realizing that there's a whole world out there and there's so much opportunity and things that I had not been thought or told when I was growing up you know, and I was basically told it was one way and one path for me and that was just to stay in the same place and get married and have children.
That's it. your life. Don't think beyond that. And when you read books and you were like, huh, but you know, there's a whole world out there and there's things I can learn and there's things I can do and there's things, you know, and, and so traveling really was. that ability to get out from where I was.
Because when you're physically in a place and you're stuck in that place, it does, it also means that you can't, um, go out into the world. And so going out into the world was so important to me, but I came from a very traditional religious family where I was told that a girl's not allowed to travel by herself, unless she's traveling with a male relative.
And so I wasn't allowed, I wasn't, I mean, I live with my parents and I wasn't allowed to travel until like late into my twenties. And it was something I had to fight so hard for. And we had arguments about it in the house all the time. And I was like, I'm going to move out. I'll move out, you know, and it was, it was really, it was a tough period because I was just dying to go and see the world.
And then when it finally happened, like I just kept pushing and I kept pushing. And I, you know, I feel like whatever I went through to get to that point made me appreciate being out in the world so much that I have a better sense of wonder. Because I'm so grateful every time because this was something I knew that was almost seemed impossible for a while to me.
So, I mean, and it, and then it's fundamental to, to how I see the world. Yeah.
Traveling is so important to me and it's changed my life in so many ways. And the more that I see bad things in the world happening, and the more that I see as being disconnected or separated, I just, it blows my mind because.
I know that everyone in the world shares so much more in common than anyone likes to talk about.
Yeah. I mean, and that's the, the wonderful thing is that you think you're going to go see like exotic different things and then you actually realize we're all pretty similar. We all have the same concerns and the same worries and the same, we're all still human.
I think that's, that is, yeah, I mean, that's so important what you're saying that that is one of the most important things of travel is that. Shows us how human we all are.
What has surprised you about the reaction of
I was really surprised that my novel did, is pretty well received in the U. S. I didn't think, I didn't think a story about an Indian community on the east coast of South Africa would Written by a South African who's still living in South Africa, who has like no base in the US. Has been, and like a gothic horror kind of novel by the sea, you know, it seems so strange to me and yet I've got like great reviews. The book has been doing well in libraries, there's like waiting lists in the libraries in the U. S., which just blows my mind every time I think about it because it's only been out two months.
And, you know, I mean, that's just, it's, it's. It's, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. And it makes me also remember that anything is possible. Yeah.
Did you grow up always thinking anything was possible or is that something you've learned along the way?
Look, I think we all, when we were growing up, think anything is possible and then life happens and then we're like, Oh my God, nothing is possible.
It's so hard. And I mean, I think that happened for me. I think when I was a young girl, I used to have these like quotes. I would stick up in the wall, roll down quote saying those who don't believe in magic will never find it. And I would put like glitter and stars and like, Oh, dream about magic in the world.
And then I grew up and. I couldn't travel and I was told you had to be a certain way. And I, and I had all these stories that I was reading. So I had all this like longing and desire. And then I, I met someone that I really liked and that didn't work out. Like the only person I really liked in my life and that didn't work out.
That, that person disappeared from my life, got married to somebody else. And I was like, wow, life, nobody told me life is horrible. Like life sucks. It's, you don't get what you want. You don't get what you want. They told us if we believe it hard enough, we're going to get what we want. But and I really had to like recover from that took a long time to recover from that and slowly build up and like build up my confidence again and believe in myself again, you know, and which everyone, I think when they take a knock, they have to do, or you can choose.
I feel like there's two parts that you can choose. You can choose to become better and angry about everything, or you can like lean into the softness that sometimes is there. And I really feel like I, like I leaned into that softness and I only blossomed from that softness. Like, after I made that choice, like life went on to a much better way and I made my dream come true.
Like, I wrote a book. It's, it got a book deal in the U. S. and it's doing, it's doing okay. And so I feel like, you know, It's okay, but you have to like lean into the softness and not into the hardness, I think.
I love that you mentioned we're all adult and I still have my Danny Champion of the World copy from when I was a kid.
And I do, I love that component of the magic he saw. And I loved how he wrote books that made the kids equal to the adults. Cause I think so often kids aren't, don't feel that way and aren't looked at that way. And it's a shame because There's, there's so smart and capable and have such great ideas and often they're just ignored or silenced or told to, you know, go do something else.
Don't bother us. And I loved how he kind of flipped it and let you believe that things were possible. You know, someone had asked me who my, who I looked up to as a kid. And I've realized that so many of them were book characters or fictional characters, you know, I don't know if you had these books, but like the Nancy Drew and the Babysitter's Club and Gem and the Holograms, and these are all, young people who were starting businesses or going on adventures and it was normal.
And so I think even as an adult, I'm like, of course, that's normal. Like, what do you mean? We can't do something. You know, I just, we just had a workshop two weeks ago, locally in LA about self trust. And I'd love to ask you one of those questions. We asked the panelists, which was, When did you start to trust yourself and when did you start to believe in yourself at new levels?
I mean, yeah, that's a great question. I think, I think it came along that time I told you when I chose softness. Like, I really feel like I chose it at that point because I was at my most devastated. I was life. It was just, I just felt like life had let me down and God had let me down. And I felt like I felt like every dream I had felt shattered at that point.
It was my lowest of my low. And I remember at one point I was doing a residency in China. So it was really horrible because I felt so alienated from everybody. I didn't have family. I didn't have friends. I didn't know the language. And I was at my low point and I felt very alienated and I remember I was in the shower and I gave, like physically gave myself a hug and I was like, it's okay.
And I think that probably was the turning point when I went from beating myself up over the mistakes that I made and, and turning it into saying, you know, Well, you were so lovely and soft and loving and kind and you gave so much of yourself, like good for you. And like when you change the narrative of yourself to you and you recognize it it changes something in you.
It makes you, like, I see myself as my best friend, like, you know, we've been through, we've been through a lot, you know we, we know each other, you know, and we came out, we, we went through all that and we came out, you know, so I think for me that trusting myself. Was going back and looking at all those times when I thought I was so stupid and I was so silly and I made so many mistakes and I how could you keep going back when this person treated you so badly?
And how could you think, trust that it was good? How did you even believe that, you know, this person was, was going to be with you and, and just breaking my confidence down and then looking back and being like, You were a really loving person and you gave a lot of yourself. And that means that's something good about you.
It's not something weak about you. It's your strength, you know? So I think that was the point when like, I was like, Oh, I'm my own friend. And I'll, I'll trust, let, let's do this together. We end this together. I, I see it that way. I do see it that way.
No, we ask everyone on here, where you put yourself on the powerful lady scale.
If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady possible. Where would you put yourself today and on an average day?
This is a hard question because it changes every day. Today's a tough day. Like if you asked me this yesterday, I would have probably said like eight or nine. Today was a bit of a tough day, but on the powerful lady scale, an eight,.
Yeah. Okay. And when you hear the words powerful and ladies. What do their definitions mean to you and do their definitions change when those words are put next to each other?
Powerful ladies to me means somebody who knows themselves, who Is constantly seeking to better themselves or, you know, who knows fundamentally who they are is not ignoring what their being is saying to themselves and, you know, like trusting your gut instincts and just making an effort to, to, to be aware of what you're feeling, what's triggering you and how you can try to, to feel better.
And, and I think. Process your emotions. So I think a powerful lady for me, someone who knows themselves and embraces themselves also. Yeah.
How have your friends, family, community, people you don't know, inspired you and supported you along the way?
It's interesting because I think I always felt like I would be the black sheep of the community because I didn't get married. I wasn't like a good role model in that sense. You know, I'm quite a feminist. I talk about like what we need to need to do and that women need to have their own dreams and they need to have their own careers. And like, I really felt like I wasn't going to be accepted for what I was saying.
And the, the things that I was doing, but it's interesting because I underestimated people because I would have a lot of people who came, who would email me and write to me after my novels came out and would be like, you're so inspiring. Like you know, we want to do these things too. And we also felt this way.
And I also went through this and it was also really hard for me. And I also feel like women should be doing these things. And. It was nice in that sense to feel like I was giving a voice to some people who wanted to be seen and also that the community was there to support me, at least the ones that I wanted to anyway, the ones who didn't want to, I didn't, wasn't interested in, in, in, in what they were saying to me anyway, you know, I got a few like anonymous messages and Emails and saying you know, what you're doing is wrong.
And this is not Islamic for you to be putting your photos. Yeah, you know, all these crazy, crazy things. I'm not interested in people who are saying these things to me. I don't care what they, you know, that's not, that's not the people who I care about, these are just like strangers. So my immediate family has been supportive and like generally in the community and that's, that's been great, but I was worried initially in the beginning, like What is the feedback going to be like?
Because I'm not writing about traditional things and I'm not doing traditional things and I'm someone like stepping a little out of, out of the box.
Well, in, in being in South Africa, the world knows about apartheid, but how is it to be brown in South Africa and not part of that original apartheid story?
I mean, it was about seven or eight when apartheid ended, so I got the tail end of it. Obviously felt the effects. Was your question. How does it feel to be? I mean that you know, it's interesting because we have a whole very long generation. I'm not like first generation Indian. I'm like well down the line.
My grandfather came as a little boy in the 1930s and Indians came to South Africa in the late 1800s to work as an indentured laborers in the sugarcane fields. The British brought them in. Mhm. So we've been here a long time, so it's an, it's an interesting fusion of cultures and Afro Indian sort of, our foods and our languages have like merged a lot.
Like if I had to go to India, I wouldn't be able to speak the language, like I'm, I feel very fully South African. And then just in terms of like, how does it feel to be an Indian, a brown person here? Also because of the legacy of apartheid, we have our areas Are designed to have different races white areas Indian areas black areas.
They, they, and the, in my, I still live in the previously Indian area. So the roads are very narrow here. We don't have trees because they gave, they gave it according to race. Like they designed the areas according to race. So Even though, like, apartheid has ended, we're, what, the 20 something after in, in democracy.
We still see the effects because, you know, All around me, my neighbors are brown, and my school, I went to, all the kids are brown. And this is just because of the layout of the land. It took longer for people to move out of the areas that they were in. Like, I didn't interact with white people until I was in university.
You know, it's interesting that it's, It's not just, it's not a clean slate, not a clean break, obviously, because you still see the effects of day to day living now.
And it hasn't been that long in the history of the world.
No, we're still very new. We're still like a baby, basically, we're still starting off. Yeah.
Yeah. You know, it's so interesting because in the, from the U. S. perspective and how much we've been dealing with race throughout, you The existence of the United States and what's been happening since 2020 and the different conversations and how the world's changing it's, it's interesting to hear the perspectives of what's going on elsewhere because it's not, it's not a us exclusive problem and it's not a us exclusive.
You know, history to overcome and build on top of and shift either. So I think it's just so interesting to hear how it's happening in other countries and it's happening. It's happening everywhere.
Mm hmm. Yeah. I agree with you.
When you look at what you're excited about for 2024, are there places you're going to travel to? Are there projects you're working on? Like, what are you excited about? As you take on this year.
Yeah, I am excited. This I'm doing my first event in New York, my first book event next month, which is exciting and I made sure that I'm, I'm going to be there for my birthday because. I always believe with birthdays, you have to do things for yourself.
You can't wait for anybody to do anything for you. You want to enjoy your day. Don't wait for anyone to make you enjoy that day. You, you make it, you enjoy it yourself. So I got tickets to New York and yeah, I'm doing three book events there, which is really exciting for me because I've had books previously in South Africa, but I haven't had books Internationally, so it will be my first international event and I'm also just interested to see where my writing is going because I'm, I think when you become a more confident person and you know who you are, then your writing changes, your characters change.
You find your way through the writing, hopefully, easier, I think. So I'm curious to see where my writing is going to go. I kind of have an idea of a project that I'm working on, and I also always want to explore like womanhood and finding who you are and seeing yourself for who you are. Like, that's so important to me.
It is very rare, to see a woman living just for herself in the world, like in her existence. So, so that is something I kind of want to explore. One of the characters in my novel, when people ask me, who's your favorite character? I always say that character because I say, it's just, she just says what she wants and she just does what she wants and she doesn't care what society thinks of her.
That's such a rare thing to see in the world. And so I'm, I'm curious and exploring that idea. And I'm also curious and exploring This idea about singledom and, and traveling and, and just sharing stories about, but about what it means to feel pressure always to like be with someone else and, and what does it mean if you don't want to be with someone else and you just want to be alone and it's lonely and, and, and also liberating and I, I'm just curious to explore that maybe like in essays or something.
Like, there's so many narratives that women are told and society keeps telling and About what we are and aren't supposed to do. And even if we think we've made so much progress, these things sneak up on us about, you know, what we are worried about or what we do try to manage for other people and whether it's being single or whether it's not wanting kids or whether it's.
Being single and having kids if it's like, yeah, there's so many narratives that were told about what's okay and what's accepted and even where to live and how to live and how to make money. It's, it's interesting to see them all shift and change. I know that part of why I started Powerful A's and the podcast was I wanted people to see And here are stories of women who are carving their own path and doing it their own way, because to your point, when you can read about it or hear about it, Like your, your imagination starts to get wider and more expansive.
So for someone listening, who's not feeling confident or who isn't sure what's next for them, what advice would you give?
I mean, and also just to say that, that yes, I mean, it's so important. I think the work that the podcast is doing, like that's, thank you. If, yeah, if I didn't, if I didn't hear about other women, other brown people who were doing things, I don't think I would have known what was possible for me.
And people need to know what's possible for them. And so to answer your question, what would I say to someone like that? I would say, hold on, hold on, because, you know, I think sometimes you think, and I waited for a long time for this. Book deal that I got like the book took like almost 10 years. I had to get a lit agent over the years I was banging my head on doors And I had to fly to the u s Which was a big thing coming from south africa to try to meet a lit agent and and there were many times I nearly gave up but like I just kept telling myself that I I think you can do this I think you can do this and you just have to hold on Because the corner is always waiting the corner is always There, and you're going to get around the corner.
You don't know what's waiting on the other side. We never know, like life is so unpredictable, you can never plan, and you don't know what's around the corner, and it could be, you know what, it could be something wonderful. So, I would say, like, to anyone who's feeling dejected or anything, like, don't, don't give up.
Keep that little fire burning, no matter how small, keep it burning.
I know, we are our own worst enemies and hardest judges, I find, especially for women who are pushing for more for themselves. Because there's always another thing, there's always a way to make it better. And so self improvement can be great, but it can also leave us not appreciating what we have now.
What are some things that you're present to being grateful for today?
I, oh, you know, when people, I've had people at family functions and stuff who feel really bad for me that in my late thirties, I'm not married yet. I, they actually feel sorry for me. And I've come to a point in my life where I am actually really grateful to be where I am right now because I get to spend time with my parents who are getting older.
And for me, that is an absolute privilege and not, I think, a thing many people can do, like, I get to see them get older and that's hard, but I get to be with them and be able to help them in some way or the other. And I feel lucky. I feel really lucky to be able to do that. So, so that's something that I'm, I'm grateful for.
I'm always grateful for.
Love that. Well, the, we've also been asking everyone, what do you need? How can we help? This is a big, powerful community. So what's on your wishlist, whether it's big or small.
Oh, I would love if people in the U. S. can order my book. That would be great. Because I don't have, I don't have I don't have a reach there and people don't know me.
So if anyone's listening, wants to order my book called The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years with Viking, you can order it anywhere on any bookstore in the U. S., that would be wonderful.
Yeah. I'm such a big book reader. I'm so excited to read your book. I rotate between the, the listening and the reading tangible ones, and I've been reading a lot this year. So I'm excited that that's coming up on my queue.
It's a big audio book also. If you want to listen to it, the narrator is just, she's gorgeous with her rendering of the prose.
It's, it's so important who the narrator is. So I'm glad that you like yours. Cause there are some books that I've had to be like, nope, I can't listen to this person.
So for everybody who wants to follow you, support you, read your books, see your art, where can they go to do those things?
So they can follow me on, I know we call it X now, but I still say Twitter. So it's at Shubnum Khan, S H U B N U M K H A N. And I'm on Instagram, Shabnam Khan also. And if they want to see my art on Instagram, it's.
It's I think it's Shabnam Khan Art, yes, S H U B N U M K H A N Art, A R T and yeah, my website is shabnamkhan. com.
And for our listeners who are in New York, when will you be in New York?
Oh yes, I'll be there on the 17th of April at the Brooklyn Public Library at 7 p. m. It's part of the BPL series.
And I will be at the Africa Center in Harlem on the 23rd of April. I think also at 7 p. m., probably 6 or 7 p. m. Speaking about my novel as well.
Okay. Very cool. We have a lot of guests and listeners in New York, so we'll make sure that they know about this too.
That's amazing. Thank you.
Yeah. Of course.
I'm sad that I won't be there in April. I'm going in June. So I'll, I'll miss you. At least on this, this round any plans, exactly. Any plans to come to the West coast?
I have never been to the West Coast and it's, it's very interesting if we, if we, and there's no plans, but I think if the book is ever made into a film, then maybe I will, I will make my way there.
But at the moment there is no plans.
All right. We'll have to manifest that. So you can hang out with powerful ladies and yeah, I can ask the whole powerful lady team to help me manifest that.
Yeah.
Well, it has been such a pleasure to speak with you today. Thank you for sharing your time with us and your wisdom.
It really is an honor and thank you for all the work that you're doing in the world.
No, thank you so much for having me and thank you for all the work that you're doing and putting out there in the world. It's so important. And it was a great talking to you.
All the links to connect with Shubhnam, buy her books and see her art earn her show notes at thepowerfulladies. com Subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening and leave us a rating and review. Join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, and you can connect directly with me at karaduffy. com. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode and new amazing guest.
Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Instagram: @ShubnumKhan
Twitter: @ShubnumKhan
Website: www.shubnumkhan.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
