Stay ConnectedWelcome to The Diverse Bookshelf. I’m Samia Aziz, celebrating the power of literature and the voices of authors and change makers from the global majority. Join me as we explore the stories that inspire, connect, and transform our world. Each week I interview an inspiring guest about a whole host of themes and issues while focusing on diverse literature.
Let’s uncover the stories that truly matter—together.
Copyright: © 2025 The Diverse Bookshelf
On this episode, I spoke to the wonderful Sofia Rehman, whose book reviews and recommendations on Instagram (@sofia_reading) have bought an immense amount of goodness in my life! Sofia's first book, A Treasury of Aisha bint Abu Bakr - Guidance from the Beloved of the Beloved was recently published by Kube Publishing.
We talk about so much in this episode, including why we need more literature by and about women, Sofia's own writing journey, the pursuit of justice, love for Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and being patient with all that we pray and ask for.
I loved every moment of speaking to Sofia. This conversation was full of so much depth, personal insight and beauty. I hope you too, find something healing and powerful to take from this.
This episode is part of a little mini-series for the month of Ramadan, focusing on spirituality and Islam. During Ramadan, millions of Muslims around the world fast, abstaining from food and drink from dawn to dusk for 30 days, as part of a month of heightened spirituality and God-consciousness.
Please do follow Sofia on Instagram to learn more about her work: www.instagram.com/sofia_reading
If you enjoyed this episode, please do rate and review as it helps more people find the podcast. Also, I'd love to connect with you on social media:
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
Today's episode is part of a little mini-series for the month of Ramadan, focusing on spirituality and Islam. During Ramadan, millions of Muslims around the world fast, abstaining from food and drink from dawn to dusk for 30 days, as part of a month of heightened spirituality and God-consciousness.
In today's episode, I chat to the lovely Ruzina Ahad, about her book, Dream, Dua, Do. Dream, Dua, Do is a self-help book and journal with a twist - it is grounded in Islamic thought and faith, giving us the tools to harness the power of prayer, while dreaming big and living our best lives.
Ruzina is a British Bengali author, who lives in the UAE with her husband and kids. She has recently penned ‘dream du’a do’ a book which is a refreshingly engaging how-to guide targeted at Millenial Muslim women, to encourage them to not just survive in today’s world but thrive! She has been a teacher/teacher trainer for almost 15 years and has an MA in Leadership and management in education at Warwick university.
I really enjoyed speaking to Ruzina, and hope you also love this episode.
Please do follow, rate and review on your podcast platform of choice as it really helps more people find the podcast!
Connect with me on social media:
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
On this episode, I chat to the incredible poet, spoken word artist and writer, Sophia Thakur.
I’m really honoured to be hosting a poet and spoken word artist on the show for the first time today. Sophia Thakur is an inspirational young woman, delivering poetry that is beautiful, packs a punch and much-needed today. Her words appeal to our deepest sense of selves, as she explores love, family, identity, politics, friendships and so much more. She gives me the boost I need to allow myself to feel, follow my passions and lean into joy. I’m so glad she’s my guest today.
Sophia Thakur won her first poetry award at 18, and since then she has performed at Glastonbury, Stylist’s Remarkable Women Awards, International conferences, and given multiple TED talks. She is a youth ambassador for the betterment of young Black girls, and has worked with charities including Cancer Research UK, and with brands such as MTV, Samsung and Nike. Sophia also worked with Walker Books in 2017 to create a piece of poetry inspired by The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, called “Poetry for the andem”. Sophia combines words with fashion, sport , music and social responsibility to push the traditional boundaries of poetry. In 2019, she published her first collection of poems, Somebody Give This Heart a Pen, to great critical acclaim, with Angie Thomas saying: “One of the most brilliant and necessary voices. The power of her words will affect generations.” Her second poetry collection Wearing My Mother's Heart was published at the end of 2022 and takes us on an emotionally charged journey through the past lives of women and considers what it means to be a woman in today’s society.
I loved every second of speaking to Sophia, and hope you do too. If you enjoyed the podcast, please follow the Diverse Bookshelf on your podcast platform of choice and connect with me on social media. I would really appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review, as it helps more people find the podcast.
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
Leila Aboulela is one of my go-to authors. I know her words are always full of wisdom and inspiration, telling fascinating and insightful stories. I've read quite a few of her books over the last few years, and so I'm so thrilled that she was my guest on the show.
In this episode, we talk about her new novel, River Spirit which is out in March 2023, published by Saqi Books in the UK. We also talk about historical fiction, re-centring women in historical narratives, understanding slavery and how it differed over time and throughout the world, and the role that faith plays in Leila's writing.
Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Nominated three times for the Orange Prize (now the Women’s Prize for Fiction), she is the author of numerous novels, including Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, The Translator, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Minaret and Lyrics Alley, which was Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her collection of short stories Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila’s work has been translated into fifteen languages, and her plays The Insider, The Mystic Life and others were broadcast on BBC Radio. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and now lives in Aberdeen, Scotland.
You can find Leila on instagram on: @leilaaboulela
If you enjoyed this episode, please like and follow the podcast on your platform of choice and do consider leaving a review. It helps more people find the podcast.
Connnect with me on social media:
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
On this episode, I spoke to the delightful Aiwanose Odafen about her debut novel, Tomorrow I Become a Woman. We talk about love, complicated relationships, the societal pressures on women and finding hope. We also talk about female friendships, love in absence and writing. This was such a fun and lively conversation, despite the difficult topics we discuss! I hope you enjoy it :)
Aiwanose was born in Lagos, Nigeria. As a high school student, she was a gold and silver medalist in the National Mathematics Olympiad Competition. She graduated top of her class with a first-class degree in Accounting and is certified with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, United Kingdom. She holds an MBA from the Said Business School, University of Oxford and was the youngest graduant in her class at 21.
Prior to becoming a writer, Aiwanose worked as a consultant across industries, most recently, in the public health sector with an international NGO, helping to save lives.
She has contributed to published non-fiction works and participated in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus Trust Writing Workshop. She was longlisted for the 2020 Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize. Tomorrow I Become a Woman is her first novel.
If you enjoyed this episode, please do leave a review, and connect with me on social media.
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
On this episode, I chat to the highly intelligent and super inspiring Mikki Kendall. We talk about her book, Hood Feminism, which calls for an intersectional approach to feminism, understanding that until we address fundamental issues affecting black women, we will never have a true, thriving feminist movement.
I loved this conversation, touching base on so many important issues including poverty, race, class, access to healthcare and so much more.
Mikki Kendall is a writer, diversity consultant, and occasional feminist; she has appeared on the BBC, NPR, The Daily Show, PBS, Good Morning America, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, WBEZ, and Showtime, and discusses race, feminism, police violence, tech, and pop culture at institutions and universities across the country. She is the author of the New York Times-bestselling HOOD FEMINISM (recipient of the Chicago Review of Books Award and named a best book of the year by BBC, Bustle, and TIME). She is also the author of AMAZONS, ABOLITIONISTS, AND ACTIVISTS, a graphic novel illustrated by A. D’Amico. Her essays can be found at TIME, the New York Times, The Guardian, the Washington Post, Essence, Vogue, The Boston Globe, NBC, and a host of other sites.
If you enjoyed this episode, please do rate and leave a review.
Also, connect with me on social media! :)
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
In this episode, I chatted to the wonderful Abi Daré about her incredible novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice. We talk about character development, female empowerment, the role of education and what it really means to have a louding voice.
Abi Daré is the author of The Girl with the Louding Voice, which was a New York Times bestseller, a #ReadWithJenna Today Show book club pick, and an Indie Next Pick. She grew up in Lagos, Nigeria and went on to study law at the University of Wolverhampton and has an MSc in International Project Management from Glasgow Caledonian University as well as an MA in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London. Abi lives in Essex, UK with her husband and two daughters, who inspired her to write her debut novel.
If you enjoyed the podcast, please follow the Diverse Bookshelf on your podcast platform of choice and connect with me on social media. I would really appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review, as it helps more people find the podcast.
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀'s Debut novel, Stay With Me was published in 2017, and is one of those books that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Her second novel, A Spell of Good Things is releasing in February 2023, and I can say with full certainty that it was worth the wait.
In this episode we talk about love amid political turmoil, class, power, womanhood, the complexity of relationships and the messy-ness of family relations, among other things.
TW: We also discuss infertility and baby loss, which is a big theme in Stay With Me, so if this doesn't feel like something you want to think about right now, please come back another time that feels better for you :)
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ has written for the BBC, LitHub, The Guardian(UK) and others. She has received fellowships and residencies from MacDowell Colony, Ledig House, Sinthian Cultural Centre, Hedgebrook, Ox-bow School of Arts, and Ebedi Hills. She holds BA and MA degrees in Literature in English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. Ayọ̀bámi also has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where she was awarded an international bursary for creative writing. In 2017, she won The Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Culture. She has worked as an editor for Saraba magazine since 2009.
Ayọ̀bámi is the author of STAY WITH ME, which was shortlisted for the Kwani? Manuscript Project as a work in progress in 2013. After it was published in 2017, it was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction, the Wellcome Book Prize and the 9mobile Prize for Literature. It was also longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. STAY WITH ME was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times and a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. Ayọ̀bámi was born in Lagos, Nigeria.
Her latest novel, A Spell of Good Things is published by Canongate Books and will be published in February 2023.
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow The Diverse Bookshelf on your podcast platform of choice, and connect with me on social media.
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram/thediversebookshelf
Today, my guest is Sukh Ojla, one of the funniest, warmest and most inspirational women I know. We talk about her novel, Sunny, which I loved. In its pages, I found a character that was SO much like me, but flawed, struggling with life and her mental health, and hilarious, kind and warm.
In this interview, we talk about the pressure around turning 30, the expectations upon women, difficult relationships with parents, friendships and establishing our identities with a mix of cultures, values and experiences.
Sukh is a comedian, actor and writer. Her first book, 'Sunny', was released in 2022.
As a comedian, Sukh has performed on many TV shows including, The Big Asian Stand-Up Show (BBC Two), Comedy Guide to Life (Dave), Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club (ITV), Comedy Central Live and features in Sky’s Dating No Filter.
In 2019, Sukh took her debut solo show ‘For Sukh’s Sake’ to Edinburgh, which received rave reviews including 5* from Funny Women. This year, Sukh returned to her nationwide tour of ‘Life Sukhs’ to critical acclaim.
Television credits include Feel Good (Channel 4), Bridgerton (Netflix), The End of the F**king World (Channel 4), GameFace (Channel 4), Hospital People (BBC1), Black Mirror (Channel 4) and EastEnders (BBC1).
I hope you love this episode as much as I did.
Please do consider rating and leaving a review, as it helps more people find the podcast!
Connect with me on social media:
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelf
On this episode, I spoke with Louise Hare about her two novels, This Lovely City, and Miss Aldridge Regrets. We had such a great conversation about London, writing, the Windrush generation, black history, passing and murder mysteries.
Louise Hare is the London-based author of Miss Aldridge Regrets. Her debut novel, This Lovely City, was published in the UK to wide acclaim, and was a Between the Covers Book Club Pick on BBC Two. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of London.
If you liked this episode, please do leave a review, and connect with me on social media :)
www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
