Poetry, 62 pages
Published by Layl Ash-Shayr, 2024

 In this inaugural anthology, Singapore Muslim writers explore moments of discovery, contemplation, stillness, and even chaos. Get comfortable in your box seat as the curtains part. and transport you to experience life's many turns in various scenes on stage.

"Here you'll find confessional poetry, lyrical spoken word verses, expansive thought experiments, and more, all in the service of speaking beatific truths that are hardly given a platform in Singapore. Explore the profound metaphors of Kaif's "Fid Dunya Wal", take an emotional multi-national adventure in Noor Iskandar's sprawling head and heart space in the moving "A Lump In The Throat" or revel in life's joyous uncertainties in Ameera Aslam's beautiful "Unexpected". It's an enjoyable read at the very least, but it's also a good entry to the people whose voices are powerful reflections of the Malay/Muslim/Malay-Muslim truths."

— Suffian Hakim, author of Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher (2015), The Minorities (2017), and The Keepers of Stories (2021)

About the editors, Layl Ash-Shayr:
Laili Abdeen (Co-Founder and Head of Outreach, Layl Ash-Shayr): When she’s not procrastinating her writing or marking essays, Laili enjoys untangling worlds through poetry and falling in love with the craftsmanship of words, one lyric at a time. She was featured as a panellist in Singapore Writers Festival 2022 and was longlisted for the 2023 Sing Lit Station Manuscript Bootcamp (Poetry). She has also published her poetry in Mahogany Journal’s third edition, "Soundscapes" and the upcoming fifth edition, "Rojak". At the moment, she is pursuing her Master’s in English, writing her thesis on contemporary Muslim literature.

Zubaidah Dadlani (Co-Founder and Head of Marketing, Layl Ash-Shayr): Zubaidah’s writing career probably began some 15 years ago, with acrostic poems scrawled on birthday cards and fanfiction written on old exercise books. She holds a Bachelor’s in Biological Sciences with a Minor in Creative Writing, was shortlisted for Singapore Poetry Festival’s Catharsis (2020 & 2024), and has experience as a blog writer, editor, and medical writer. She is currently a part-time English tutor, freelance writer, and a full-time adventurer. (She jests – most of her free time is spent horizontal).

Nursarah Safari (Head of Operations, Layl Ash-Shayr): Sarah is a passionate ponderer of words and worlds. In all the time she spends in her head, she is grateful but clueless how she ended up here. Don’t let this stop you from asking her about it: when she is not mentally dancing with words, she is often down for a good conversation. She writes poems for survival and works as a literature and English teacher to get by.