NASEEM JAMNIA
- The Bruising of Qilwa
- …
- The Bruising of Qilwa
centering marginalized voices & EXPERIENCES IN SPECULATIVE FICTION
NASEEM JAMNIA
- The Bruising of Qilwa
- …
- The Bruising of Qilwa
centering marginalized voices & EXPERIENCES IN SPECULATIVE FICTION
Short fiction
If you would like to solicit me for a short story, please email naseem@naseemjamnia.com.
The corruption of malik the unsmiling
November 2023, Sunday Morning Transport
Imagine, if you will, a gas station in Hell. Run by a wisecracking djinn. This week’s story by Naseem Jamnia surpasses how good you may think that customer service experience could possibly be, into the infinite.
Highlighted in Locus Magazine and included in Reactor's "Must Read Speculative Fiction: November 2023."
Break Through Our Skin
July 2024, The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power (Tor Teen)
In which a struggling nonbinary teen finds acceptance in an unexpected ancient source.
"Scares are plentiful but always impactful ... “Break Through Our Skin” by Naseem Jamnia conceptualizes the transgender experience through depictions of body horror." — Publisher's Weekly
"Others, such as Naseem Jamnia’s “Break Through Our Skin,” artfully use body horror to explore the nuances of gender identity, enhancing corporeal anxiety in ways reminiscent of director David Cronenberg’s work." — Kirkus Reviews
Anthologies
If you would like to feature my work in an anthology, please reach out to my agent, erica bauman.
Tor Teen, 2024. Edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Content notes for "Break Through Our Skin": explicit and internalized transphobia, use of a transphobic slur, graphic body horror, graphic violence, cannibalism, and racism.
13 SCARY STORIES. 13 AUTHORS OF COLOR. 13 TIMES WE SURVIVED... THE FIRST KILL.
The White Guy Dies First includes thirteen scary stories by all-star contributors and this time, the white guy dies first.
Killer clowns, a hungry hedge maze, and rich kids who got bored. Friendly cannibals, impossible slashers, and the dead who don’t stay dead....
A museum curator who despises “diasporic inaccuracies.” A sweet girl and her diary of happy thoughts. An old house that just wants friends forever....
These stories are filled with ancient terrors and modern villains, but go ahead, go into the basement, step onto the old plantation, and open the magician’s mystery box because this time, the white guy dies first.
Edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker, including stories from bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming contributors: Adiba Jaigirdar, Alexis Henderson, Chloe Gong, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, H. E. Edgmon, Kalynn Bayron, Karen Strong, Kendare Blake, Lamar Giles, Mark Oshiro, Naseem Jamnia, Tiffany D. Jackson, and Terry J. Benton-Walker.
A collection you’ll be dying to talk about… if you survive it.
Lambda Literary, 2020. Edited by Tahirah Alexander Green
Content notes for the excerpt from my YA contemporary ghost story, SHANG ON THE PATH (work in progress): Islamophobia, racial slurs, anxiety, and public trauma.
This anthology is a collection of literary work from the 2019 Lambda Literary Fellows in Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Genre Fiction, and Playwriting. The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices was established in 2007 and is the first of its kind ever offered to LGBTQ writers: a one-week intensive immersion in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, genre fiction, and playwriting. The Retreat is an unparalleled opportunity to develop one's craft, make connections with publishing professionals, and build a strong community of peers. Over 50 writers are included.
University of Chicago Press, 2019. Edited by Leila Sales
Content notes for my piece, "Item 229, 2013: The Final Feast": disordered eating, depression, mentions of suicidal ideations, and emotional abuse.
The University of Chicago's annual Scavenger Hunt (or "Scav") is one of the most storied college traditions in America. Every year, teams of hundreds of competitors scramble over four days to complete roughly 350 challenges. The tasks range from moments of silliness to 1,000-mile road trips, and they call on participants to fully embrace the absurd. For students it is a rite of passage, and for the surrounding community it is a chance to glimpse the lighter side of a notoriously serious university.
We Made Uranium! shares the stories behind Scav, told by participants and judges from the hunt's more than thirty-year history. The twenty-three essays range from the shockingly successful (a genuine, if miniscule, nuclear reaction created in a dorm room) to the endearing failures (it's hard to build a carwash for a train), and all the chicken hypnotisms and permanent tattoos in between. Taken together, they show how a scavenger hunt once meant for blowing off steam before finals has grown into one of the most outrageous annual traditions at any university. The tales told here are absurd, uplifting, hilarious, and thought-provoking—and they are all one hundred percent true.
© 2025, Naseem Jamnia
Photos of Naseem by Jennie Kaplan, 2018, and Jeramie Lu, 2022