Deena Mohamed | Granta

Deena Mohamed

When Deena Mohamed was 18, her webcomic starring a hijab-clad superhero went viral and as a Muslim, feminist comic book artist she became an immediate media sensation. She set herself the challenge of writing a literary, feminist, Arab-centric graphic novel, with international and universal resonance. Shubeik Lubeik – a fairytale rhyme meaning ‘your wish is my command’ in Arabic – is the graphically bold and stunningly beautiful result.

Publications

Your Wish Is My Command

Deena Mohamed

Your Wish is My Command is the story of three people who are navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale. Mired as they are in bureaucracy and the familiar prejudices of our world, the wishes that are more expensive are more likely to work as intended.

Three wishes sold at an unassuming kiosk in Cairo link Aziza, Nour and Shokry, changing their perspectives as well as their lives. Aziza learned early that life can be hard, but when she loses her husband and manages to procure a wish, she finds herself fighting unreasonable regulations and inequality for the right to have – and make – that wish. Nour is a privileged college student who secretly struggles with depression and must decide whether or not to use their wish to try to ‘fix’ this depression. And, finally, Shokry must grapple with his religious convictions as he decides how to help a friend who doesn’t want to use their wish.