Dancing into the Light: An Arab American Girlhood in the Middle East [Paperback]

Set against the backdrop of the early American presence in Iran under the Shah, and the burgeoning years of Kuwait’s early oil boom,Dancing into the Lightis Kathryn Abdul-Baki’s memoir of growing up within both the expatriate Western communities and the larger Middle Eastern society of Kuwait and Jerusalem. Hers is a story of belonging to two vastly different cultures and finding her place within both, and the search to find the inherent harmony in worlds at odds with each other. She is already caught in both the joys of and the struggle to be both Arab and American, yet not fully either, when her young life of promise is disrupted by tragedy. But instead of derailing her life, her mother’s death opens the door to deeper love and support from other places within Kathryn’s family.

Dancing into the Lightis a story of love, loss, and renewal, and of overcoming devastating early trauma through music, dancing, and the love and devotion of strong American and Arab women.Kathryn K. Abdul-Baki was born in Washington DC to an Arab father and an American mother. She grew up in Iran, Kuwait, Beirut, and Jerusalem, where she attended Arabic, British, and American schools. She attended the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, has a BA in journalism from George Washington University in Washington DC, and an MA in creative writing from George Mason University, Virginia. She has published five books of fiction, some of which have been taught at universities in multicultural literature, women’s studies, and Arab studies departments. She is recipient of the Mary Roberts Rinehart award for short fiction. Abdul-Baki has three grown children and currently resides with her husband in McLean, Virginia.2023 Sarton Awards Shortlist: Memoir
Silver Medal from Nonfiction Authors Association

“This eloquently composed remembrance has a musical lilt and emotionality, and it effectively relates the joys, fears, and tragedlã1