We chat with co-authors Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar about Four Eids and a Funeral, which follows two ex-best friends, Tiwa and Said, who must work together to save their Islamic Center from demolition, in this romantic story of rekindling and rebuilding.
Hi, Faridah and Adiba! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?
Adiba: Hi! I’m an author and former teacher who lives in Dublin, Ireland. I’ve written several books and generally I write about Bengali characters as I’m originally from Bangladesh. When I’m not writing, I like playing video games and crocheting.
Faridah: Hello! I’m an author from London who generally writes dark stories about Black queer people having existential crises. Sometimes I write happy things. When I’m not writing I can be found yapping about Shakespeare and expediting my hearing loss by listening to music really loudly.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Adiba: I’ve always been a big lover of stories and storytelling. Literature is very important in Bangladeshi culture and in Irish culture, so I feel like I grew up loving the art of storytelling, and once I learned how to read and write, that naturally translated into a love for writing.
Faridah: I’m dyslexic and so I really fell in love with storytelling through my mum reading stories to me or just hearing her make random stories up. I remembered how excited and elated I’d be every time she’d tell me a new story, and I wanted to inspire the same feelings in others.
Your co-authored novel, Four Eids and a Funeral, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Adiba: Romantic, funny, community, cozy, laddoos
Faridah: morbid, warm, silly, sweet, fun
What can readers expect?
Adiba: They can expect a sweet and funny book about two Muslim teens, Said and Tiwa, who used to be friends but are now enemies, finding their way back to each other as they try to rebuild their town’s Islamic centre.
Faridah: They can expect to see a somewhat morbid story about two snarky teens who fall in love over the course of four eids and a funeral.
Where did the inspiration for Four Eids and a Funeral come from?
Adiba: Both of us are Muslim and we initially became friends by bonding over how alienating it feels to be Muslim in largely non-Muslim spaces. We talk a lot about our experiences of being Muslim and how it’s frustrating that media often misrepresents Muslims. So we wanted to write a fun story that centered Muslim teens with similar backgrounds to us and spoke back to some of these frustrations that we had.
Faridah: What she said.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Adiba: I really enjoyed writing the character of Safiyah. She’s Said’s older sister and Tiwa’s best friend. She’s very messy, but also very kind and caring. She’s protective of both Said and Tiwa but doesn’t always know how to protect them. She was a really fun character to delve into.
Faridah: I think Adiba and I both had a really great time working on the character Safiyah. She made us laugh a lot.
Can you tell us a bit about how the collaboration worked? Were there any disagreements? Any ideas that you wish you got to first?
Adiba: We sat down and planned out the whole book before we started writing, which really helped with the collaboration process. It was definitely tricky at times, trying to figure out how to merge our writing processes but we found our rhythm pretty fast. We had a lot of zoom calls where we would write, edit, or brainstorm together. Writing is often very lonely, so it was really nice to have somebody to bounce ideas off of at all times with this book.
Faridah: It was a really fun and collaborative experience. I am a very chaotic drafter and so it was interesting learning how another author’s process worked and learning from them.
What’s next for you both?
Adiba: In November, I have a new book out called Rani Choudhury Must Die, which is a sapphic Bengali version of John Tucker Must Die, and basically follows two Bangladeshi girls who discover they’re dating the same boy and decide to get their revenge by trying to beat and expose him at a science competition. Faridah and I are also currently working on our next book together, and we’re excited to hopefully share more about that soon!
Faridah: Next up I have stories in three really cool anthologies. The first anthology is out this summer and it’s The White Guy Dies First, a horror anthology by BIPOC authors where our only task was to choose a horror subgenre and subvert the subgenre’s common tropes by firstly killing a white guy. That was a lot of fun. I got to work on a killer clown story for it. The next story I have coming out is with Marvel and it’s a Spider-Verse story about a Black, Muslim, character from South London (like me!) who just happens to be a spider-person known formally as Spider-UK, informally as Zarina Zahari. I had the best time working on the story. It has always been a dream of mine to write for Marvel, and the spider-verse movies / comics are literally my favourite thing in the world. The last story I have coming out still hasn’t been announced, though might be by the time this interview is out, all I can say is that it is in the world of the BBC’s Doctor Who…
Lastly, are there any book releases that you’ve picked up this year or you’re looking forward to having in your hands?
Adiba: I’m excited to read A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen and If You’re Not the One by Farah Naz Rishi
Faridah: I really loved Funny Story by Emily Henry which I read a few weeks ago. I’m also really excited for the release of Joelle Wellington’s sophomore novel The Blonde Dies First and the debut YA Romantasy by Louangie Bou-Montes Till the Last Beat of my Heart. I was fortunate enough to be able to read it earlier this year and absolutely loved it!
