Author Jumaana Abdu speaks with Seth and Tony about writing from a place of spirituality, the influences that shaped Two Burials, and what it means to live and write in the face of crisis.  

Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning. 

About Jumaana Abdu

Jumaana Abdu is the author of Translations (Vintage) which was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, the MUD Literary Prize, and a NSW Premier’s Literary Award. She was named SMH Best Young Novelist in 2025 and her widely published fiction and essays have won the Dal Stivens Award, the Patricia Hackett Prize, and the Phoebe Journal fiction prize. During the day, she is a medical doctor. 

jumaanaabdu.com

Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation.

The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years.