Nailah Dean

Nailah Dean is a writer and lawyer currently living in Oakland, California. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera and Insider, amongst other publications. She is a blogger for a lifestyle blog Vela Hijabs and has her own Substack.                              

Nailah enjoys writing about love, marriage, and Islam.

Nailah is a recipient of a Hurston Wright, Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Fellowship, and Muses & Melanin Fellowship. She was shortlisted in the 2021 MFest Short Story Competition.

A member of AWP and the San Francisco Grotto, Nailah is currently working on a novel about the complexities of a twenty-something Muslim woman seeking love and marriage.  

When she is not writing, Nailah enjoys exploring the Bay Area’s best bookstores and making homemade cinnamon rolls.

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