Samina Ali is an award-winning author, curator, and popular speaker. Her debut novel, Madras on a Rainy Day won France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Etranger and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Samina’s viral TEDx talk “What Does the Qur’an Really Say About Muslim Women’s Hijab” and her global exhibition Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art and Voices express her passionate advocacy for contemporary women who are defining their own identities and shattering pervasive stereotypes. She was a founding member of American Muslim feminist organization Daughters of Hajar. The group’s peaceful march into a mosque in Morgantown, West Virginia, to advance equality became part of the documentary The Mosque in Morgantown, which aired nationwide on PBS as part of the series America at a Crossroads. Samina was a featured speaker at the 2017 conference of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, an international advocacy organization founded by five women Peace Prize laureates. Samina’s latest memoir, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back, is about how her encounter with death from a nearly fatal illness fundamentally changed how she lives. Named a “Most Anticipated Book of 2025” by multiple outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back is both deeply personal and an inspiring example of human determination and courage for anyone facing overwhelming odds.
