Beyond the “Muslim Bridget Jones”: An interview with Ayisha Malik

British Muslim author Ayisha Malik has gained prominence since her literary debut, 2015’s Sofia Khan is Not Obliged , a chick lit-esque work that positioned its central character as a “Muslim Bridget Jones”. Malik’s works – particularly the trio of “Sofia Khan” works – arguably catalysed the wave of romantic fictional works by Muslim British, Black British, and Asian British authors in the decade that followed; for example, Black British author Candice Carty-Williams similarly marketed the titular protagonist of her 2019 debut Queenie as a “Black Bridget Jones”. In this interview, Malik discusses what has influenced her as an author, expanding on genre, discrimination, and exclusion. She discusses the themes of each of her works, and her thoughts on the position of Black British, Asian British, and Muslim British authors in the present-day publishing industry in Britain.