Yasmin Azad

Yasmin Azad was among the first group of girls in her Muslim community to go away from home to pursue a university degree. After obtaining a degree in English, she moved to the United States, where she now lives. Living mostly in the Boston area, she worked for over two decades as a mental health counselor. Her memoir "Stay, Daughter," draws on her experiences growing up in a close-knit, conservative society which, when it gave more independence to women, had to deal with the challenges of modernity. It is also informed by an understanding derived from her work as a counselor in the West, that the breakdown of traditional family values and structures comes with its own challenges, especially for women. Her writing has been published in Solstice Literary Magazine, and The Massachusetts Review.