An agent’s view on diversity, secularism and religion: A conversation with Rukhsana Yasmin

ABSTRACT In this interview, Rukhsana Yasmin describes her experiences as a literary agent from a Muslim cultural background. She recalls how, early in her career, she was somewhat limitingly regarded as a representative of “diversity” within the industry, but also notes the advantages of her insider’s ability to recognize potential areas of sensitivity and broker conversations between authors and publishers to ensure the writer’s experience is respected in the editing process and that unconscious biases resulting from a predominantly white, middle-class majority viewpoint are minimized. Although she still receives comparatively few novels addressing faith, Rukhsana is heartened by the success of recent essay anthologies by Muslim women. Along with the determination of younger writers to resist being pigeonholed by producing tonally and thematically varied work that better reflects their experiences, such publications push back against the trend for Muslim trauma narratives that have been a staple feature of minority publishing.