#148. Nearly Dying While Giving Birth, Followed by Seven Years of Recovery

Samina Ali teaches fiction writing at Stanford University and is an award-winning author, whose debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days, published in 2004, won several literary awards, including Poets & Writers Magazine’s Top Debut of the Year. She has been a columnist for the New York Times Book Review and other publications and has been interviewed by national media.

Samina has been an activist for Muslim women’s rights and has served as a cultural ambassador to several European countries for the U.S. State Department. A founding member of the American Muslim feminist organization, Daughters of Hajar, she curated the acclaimed global exhibition, Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art & Voices, showcasing work by Muslim women artists, activists, and thought leaders from around the world.

​Samina’s just released second book, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back, which is the subject of today’s interview, tells the story of her unlikely survival and seven years of recovery, after nearly dying during the birth of her son. The memoir disarmingly invites the reader to relive her harrowing experience with her, as she taps into its medical, psychological, spiritual, cultural, and familial dimensions.

Recorded 3/25/24.