profile

Hi! I'm Naseem Jamnia.

I write and teach inclusive speculative fiction. I'm also a pro-library activist.

Every other week, I send out a newsletter as part of my Tuesday Telegrams; one is on writing, publishing, and craft, and the other personal reflections on my life and the times. THE BRUISING OF QILWA, my Crawford-, Locus-, and World Fantasy-nominated novella set in a queernormative, Persian-inspired world, is out now from Tachyon Publications. My queer MG mushroom horror debut, THE GLADE, is out now from Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. I regularly teach writing classes focused on inclusive and marginalized storytelling at organizations like Tin House, Clarion West, Carl Brandon Society, and Roots. Wounds. Words.

Join the Tuesday Telegrams!

A sketch in white of a hand clutching a human heart with flowers and leaves growing around it, set on a black background, with a blood splatter across it. I use this as the ebook cover for Nothing Less than Bones, the short story AU of The Bruising of QIl

The point of writing under fascism

5 months ago • 12 min read
website | bluesky | instagram | linktree | order the glade (paperback preorder available now) | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar | solidarity corner linktree Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. I am not a writer who...
READ POST
An image of the cover of The Glade by Naseem Jamnia. An Iranian American tween with long wavy brown hair , wearing a blue-purple hoodie and jeans, stares up and away, her fists clenched. Around her are eerie glowing mushrooms and vines.

"Thesis statements" in fictionory

about 1 hour ago • 7 min read
website | bluesky | instagram (updates only) | linktree | order the glade (paperback available now) | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar | solidarity corner linktree Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. Before I get...
READ POST
The beautiful cover of "Ten Years of Sword & Kettle Press." The main image is of a wolf with a human heart in its throat jumping into a grandfather clock pointing to 10 o'clock. The wolf is looking over its shoulder as a maroon dragon wraps around the clo

What does it mean to be a "good literary citizen"?

28 days ago • 8 min read
website | bluesky | instagram (updates only) | linktree | order the glade (paperback available now) | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar | solidarity corner linktree Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. Content Note: brief...
READ POST
A flyer for Unite to Read Project's "Beyond the Ban," featuring Adib Khorram and Naseem Jamnia, moderated by Ashley Hope Pérez. Headshots of all three authors are included, as well as covers of One Word, Six Letters and The Glade. The Zoom information is

Small press vs. Big 5 traditional publishing

about 2 months ago • 6 min read
website | bluesky | instagram (updates only) | linktree | order the glade (paperback preorder available now) | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar | solidarity corner linktree Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. For today's...
READ POST
Part of the image from Sword and Kettle's Ten Year Anniversary Anthology, which shows a wolf jumping into a grandfather clock and crows flying past.

"Draft Zero" verses "Draft One"

3 months ago • 5 min read
website | bluesky | instagram (updates only) | linktree | order the glade (paperback preorder available now) | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar | solidarity corner linktree Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. I wrote...
READ POST
An image of the cover of The Glade by Naseem Jamnia. An Iranian American tween with long wavy brown hair , wearing a blue-purple hoodie and jeans, stares up and away, her fists clenched. Around her are eerie glowing mushrooms and vines.

Revising while drafting doesn't work

4 months ago • 6 min read
website | bluesky | instagram (updates only) | linktree | order the glade (paperback preorder available now) | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar | solidarity corner linktree Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. Hi,...
READ POST
A beautiful Massachusetts autumn scene, with grass and autumn-colored trees

Welcome 2026: What's on the horizon

6 months ago • 8 min read
website | instagram | bluesky | linktree | order the glade (paperback preorder now live) | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. Happy New Years, everyone! Welcome to 2026: another year of...
READ POST
The original image for "Reading like a Scientist," although only some pink paisleys and part of the yellow writing on a green background is visible.

Reading like a Scientist: Live Course

7 months ago • 7 min read
website | instagram | linktree | NEW! order the glade | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. This is my last writing Telegram for 2025. I always take December off from doing Telegrams in...
READ POST
An image that says "NaNoWriMo 2025" in gothic font on an image of someone at a desk and laptop, the colors orange and red-ish and a bit washed out. Image by Kay Allen for Sword & Kettle Press.

Prewriting tips for NaNoWriMo

8 months ago • 4 min read
website | instagram | linktree | order the glade | order the bruising of qilwa | order the white guy dies first | tip jar Welcome to the Tuesday Telegrams, a semimonthly newsletter from award-winning author Naseem Jamnia. You're currently reading a writing-related Telegram, where I update you on projects, offer behind-the-scenes looks, delve into craft, and other publishing and writing topics. It might be October, but some of you may already be gearing up for NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing...
READ POST

Every other week, I send out a newsletter as part of my Tuesday Telegrams; one is on writing, publishing, and craft, and the other personal reflections on my life and the times. THE BRUISING OF QILWA, my Crawford-, Locus-, and World Fantasy-nominated novella set in a queernormative, Persian-inspired world, is out now from Tachyon Publications. My queer MG mushroom horror debut, THE GLADE, is out now from Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. I regularly teach writing classes focused on inclusive and marginalized storytelling at organizations like Tin House, Clarion West, Carl Brandon Society, and Roots. Wounds. Words.