The Royal Abduls

Ramiza Shamoun Koya author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Forest Avenue Press

Published:28th May '20

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Royal Abduls cover

Distribution of early galleys (starting in summer 2019) and ARCs (starting fall 2019) to media outlets, reviewers, bloggers, magazines, and key booksellers and librarians Coverage targeting the 9/11 20th anniversary, with a focus on news outlets seeking topics that are related to Muslims living in the U.S. Reviews targeting Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, Booklist, The Bookforum, O Magazine, People, and others Advertising including PNBA Holiday Catalog, PNBA bookseller promotions, and regional direct-to-reader advertising Bookseller outreach, including ABA Advance Access, PNBA appearance, and galley mailings to booksellers who have enjoyed other titles Pacific Northwest tour with a focus on bookstores, libraries, local and reading series Chosen for two panels at AWP 2020 in San Antonio, Texas; those appearances and related media will grow her literary fan base Other appearances in the works Regional coverage targeting Portland-area media, including the Oregonian, Portland Mercury, Portland Monthly, Portland Tribune, Eugene Register-Guard, Willamette Week, KBOO’s “Between the Covers,” and OPB’s State of Wonder Other coverage targeting The Rumpus, Entropy Magazine, Huff Post, Fiction Writers Review, Writing Under Pressure, Lit Reactor, and more Author will write and pitch essays to HuffPost, Bustle, Narratively and others Excerpts of The Royal Abduls targeted to magazines and websites Book club outreach with a focus on social justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion Author interviews: radio, TV, print, and online venues NetGalley, Edelweiss, and Goodreads ARC giveaways Social media including blog appearances, excerpts, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram Promotions on author's website, ramizashamounkoya.com (TK), and the publisher's website, forestavenuepress.com Publicity and promotion in conjunction with author's speaking engagements

Ramiza Shamoun Koya reveals the devastating cost of anti-Muslim sentiment in The Royal Abduls, her debut novel about an Indian-America family. Evolutionary biologist Amina Abdul accepts a post-doc in Washington, DC, choosing her career studying hybrid zones over a faltering West Coast romance. Her brother and sister-in-law welcome her to the city,Ramiza Shamoun Koya reveals the devastating cost of anti-Muslim sentiment in The Royal Abduls, her debut novel about a secular Indian-America family. Evolutionary biologist Amina Abdul accepts a post-doc in Washington, DC, choosing her career studying hybrid zones over a faltering West Coast romance. Her brother and sister-in-law welcome her to the city, but their marriage is crumbling, and they soon rely on her to keep their son company. Omar, hungry to understand his roots, fakes an Indian accent, invents a royal past, and peppers his aunt with questions about their cultural heritage. When he brings an ornamental knife to school, his expulsion triggers a downward spiral for his family, even as Amina struggles to find her own place in an America now at war with people who look like her. With The Royal Abduls, Koya ignites the canon of post-9/11 literature with a deft portrait of second-generation American identity.

“Ramiza Shamoun Koya’s The Royal Abduls is filled with wonderfully flawed, yet deeply sympathetic characters who occupy utterly convincing and beautifully drawn narrative and emotional situations. Is independence freedom or isolation? How can we balance our own needs with those of our loved ones? How can we both protect ourselves and connect with others? Koya’s novel reminds us that the answers to these questions are, of course, both deeply personal and deeply political, and in answering them, Koya performs the marvelous alchemy of dropping us into a story world that dismantles and then reassembles our sense of who we are.” —Karen Shepard, author of The Celestials “The Royal Abduls is a novel for our times. It is a novel of struggle and a reminder of the hope that we once felt and that, hopefully, we will feel again soon.” —Carol Zoref, author of Barren Island “Koya has crafted a tender-hearted story with a sharp knife edge. She's cut to the heart of the devastating effects of colonialism and white supremacy on multi-generational American immigrant families.” —Jenny Forrester, author of Narrow River, Wide Sky "After reading Ramiza Shamoun Koya's warm and wise debut novel, you will not soon forget the Abdul family, especially the tenderness between Amina and her young nephew, Omar, as both struggle to find happiness amid family turmoil and hostility towards Muslims in post-9/11 America. Koya imbues each page of The Royal Abduls with lessons of the heart and what it means to save yourself while protecting the ones you love." —Mo Daviau, author of Every Anxious Wave “A beautiful and messy family story set in the tumultuous post 9/11 world of Washington, DC, The Royal Abduls digs deep into the hearts of a small boy and his academic auntie as they struggle to define themselves and stay connected to the ones they love. It’s a story of an immigrant experience of our times, full of hope and tender human wisdom.” —Joanna Rose, author of A Small Crowd of Strangers “The Royal Abduls is a propulsive and absorbing story of the tensions that reside between career and love, personal desires and family expectations. Upping the power of this book, Ramiza Shamoun Koya deftly reveals how these tensions are made more complicated by political, cultural and social forces. Especially unique in this story is the complex and beautifully drawn relationship between the two point of view characters: a childless aunt and her adolescent nephew. We need more stories like this.” —Jackie Shannon Hollis, author of This Particular Happiness: A Childless Love Story

  • Winner of Blue Mountain Center Fiction Fellow 2005 (United States)
  • Winner of MacDowell Colony Fiction Fellow 2005 (United States)

ISBN: 9781942436416

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

304 pages