AustLit logo
Yassmin Abdel-Magied Yassmin Abdel-Magied i(A153963 works by)
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 1 y separately published work icon Stand Up and Speak Out Against Racism Yassmin Abdel-Magied , Aleesha Nandhra (illustrator), Newtown : Walker Books Australia , 2023 27261894 2023 single work information book children's

'In this vital and accessible survey, a prominent activist for racial justice answers questions from real children, giving them the tools and the confidence to shape a more just society.

'Using questions canvassed from children around the United Kingdom as her framework, writer, activist, engineer, and broadcaster Yassmin Abdel-Magied provides a clear overview of racism's history, what it looks like today, and how to recognize, resist, and disrupt racist conversations and attitudes that can appear anywhere. This book is a practical guide for taking actionable steps, but it acknowledges that talking about racism invites complex feelings and offers tips and tactics for expressing those emotions safely, stepping back when needed, and prioritizing self-care. The book's warm and assured tone, friendly illustrations, and supplementary charts, sidebars, infographics, and glossary offer an authentic way to open a dialogue with middle-grade readers, providing an eloquent call to nurture compassion and change, challenge inequality, and strive toward racial justice for all.' (Publication summary)

1 There's So Much I Could Write Poetry About Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2023 single work poetry
— Appears in: A Line in the Sand 2023;
1 4 y separately published work icon Talking About a Revolution Yassmin Abdel-Magied , Melbourne : Vintage , 2022 23955270 2022 selected work essay

'With her trademark optimism, sass, boldness and search for answers, across a collection of new and revisited essays, Yassmin Abdel-Magied explores resistance, transformation, and revolution.

'Yassmin Abdel-Magied started out a dynamic, optimistic, naive, youthful grass-roots organiser and oil rig worker and without intent, was suddenly taking on the heft of the Australian political and media establishment. She left Australia to rebuild a new life, away from family and friends, and with no employment, in London. In the UK she has been broadcasting on the BBC, consulting to multinational corporations, writing for stage and screen, and publishing successful books for young readers.

'In TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION, a collection of new and revisited essays, Yassmin explores resistance, transformation, and revolution. The Private and Public Self', includes essays on her crazy passions for cars, cryptocurrency and other unexpected things, as well as the personal challenges and grief around her activism and leaving Australia. She provides a hearty defence of hobbies (that are not turned into money-making side hustles), expands on the value and process of carving out a private life and self in an incredibly public facing world (linking to the concept of keeping her body private through hijab). Yassmin tackles the concept of identity when one is a forever migrant- by ancestry, and by choice. What does it mean to organise for social justice when untethered to place?

'In Systems and Society' Yassmin shares how her thinking on activism, transformative change and justice has evolved. This section contains articles on cultural appropriation, the myth of the model minority and her incredibly popular TEDx talk on unconscious bias. She challenges and interrogates the contemporary social and political landscape- on how consistently tech companies are replicating the same inequalities (and inequitable structures) online as offline, on how to bring an 'abolitionist' lens to social justice work, on the value and challenges faced by younger generations of activists who are taught to work towards 'empowerment' rather than 'power'.

'In all these essays, written with the passion, lived-experience and intelligence of someone who wants to improve our world, the concept of revolution is ever-present.'  (Publication summary)

1 y separately published work icon Listen, Layla Yassmin Abdel-Magied , Melbourne : Penguin , 2021 20156860 2021 single work children's fiction children's

'Layla has ended the school year on a high and can’t wait to spend the holidays hanging out with her friends and designing a prize-winning Grand Designs Tourismo invention. But Layla’s plans are interrupted when her grandmother in Sudan falls ill and the family rush to be with her.

'The last time Layla went to Sudan she was only a young child. Now she feels torn between her Sudanese and Australian identities. As political tensions in Sudan erupt, so too do tensions between Layla and her family. Layla is determined not to lose her place in the invention team, but will she go against her parents’ wishes? What would a Kandaka do?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 To the Moon : A Young Woman's Journey into the World of Cryptocurrency Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2019 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , 30 April no. 64 2019; (p. 116-128)

'I'd like to believe that I wasn’t jumping on the bandwagon. But don’t we all tell ourselves little white lies to keep our self-worth intact?' (Introduction)

1 I Found All My Childhood Heroes in Fantasy Novels Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 March 2019;

'My Sudanese grandmother couldn’t fathom why I read books full of dragons and danger but in them I saw the person I could be.'  (Introduction)

1 2 y separately published work icon You Must Be Layla Yassmin Abdel-Magied , Melbourne : Penguin , 2019 15594399 2019 single work children's fiction children's

'Layla's mind goes a million miles a minute, so does her mouth – unfortunately her better judgement can take a while to catch up! Although she believes she was justified for doing what she did, a suspension certainly isn't the way she would have wished to begin her time at her fancy new high school. Despite the setback, Layla's determined to show everyone that she does deserve her scholarship and sets her sights on winning a big invention competition. But where to begin?

'Looking outside and in, Layla will need to come to terms with who she is and who she wants to be if she has any chance of succeeding.

'Jam-packed with heart and humour You Must Be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied reveals a powerful new voice in children’s writing. Touching on the migrant experience and exploring thought-provoking themes relevant to all teens, this book shows the strength required to be a Queen with a capital ‘Q’.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 I Wanted to Make Jokes about My Destroyed Career, but All I Felt Was Grief Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 August 2018;

'Ushered out of my job, my mental health spiralling, reputation in shambles, I felt a deep, cavernous sense of loss for my once optimistic self.' (Introduction)

1 Leaving. For Good Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2017 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Meanjin , December vol. 76 no. 4 2017;
1 A Little Too Close to the Sun : Advocacy in the Modern Age Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2017 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , May no. 56 2017; (p. 18-24)
''Ah, the worst that can happen is someone sending you an angry email. Just don't read it, you will be fine. Don't forget to take your vitamins. Have you checked your iron levels? You know your anaemia makes you tired.'' (Publication abstract)
1 Finding the Spark Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2016 extract autobiography (Yassmin's Story : Who Do You Think I Am)
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 28 February 2016; (p. 24)
1 1 y separately published work icon Yassmin's Story : Who Do You Think I Am Yassmin Abdel-Magied , Sydney : Random House Australia , 2016 9306120 2016 single work autobiography

'Frank, fearless, funny, articulate and inspiring, Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a dynamo, a young Muslim dynamo offering a bracing breath of fresh air - and hope.

'At 21, Yassmin found herself working on a remote Australian oil and gas rig; she was the only woman and certainly the only Sudanese-Egyptian-Australian background Muslim woman. With her hijab quickly christened a 'tea cosy' there could not be a more unlikely place on earth for a young Muslim woman to want to be. This is the story of how she got there, where she is going, and how she wants the world to change.' (Publication summary)

1 As Lionel Shriver Made Light of Identity, I Had No Choice but to Walk Out on Her Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 10 September 2016;
'Lionel Shriver’s keynote address at the Brisbane writers festival was a poisoned package wrapped up in arrogance and delivered with condescension.'
1 Everyone's Australia Day Is Different Yassmin Abdel-Magied , Melissa Lucashenko , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 25 January 2015; (p. 62-63)
1 On the Rigs Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2013 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Griffith Review , April no. 40 2013; (p. 105-115)
1 [Essay] : Mahtab’s Story Yassmin Abdel-Magied , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Reading Australia 2013-;

'‘We must stop the boats.’ It’s a phrase every Australian has heard, ad nauseam. It’s been the theme of election campaigns and political advertising. It’s a statement so often uttered on the nightly news that a time when politicians showed empathy to asylum seekers and refugees seems like a fading dream. For over a decade, but particularly for the last five years, this simple saying has sent a blunt message: ‘We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.’' (Introduction)

X