Anise Vance, a biracial Baha’i living in the United States, has written a debut novel about racial justice. Hush Habor was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and was listed as a “Most Anticipated Book” in The Rumpus as well as a “Most Anticipated Crime Fiction Book of Fall 2023” in CrimeReads. Published by Harper Collins, this book explores issues of resistance, belonging, and justice in the context of police violence on black bodies. I’m so grateful to Anise for taking the time to tell us about his book. Author Anise Vance Can you tell us a little about yourse ..read more

Australian Baha’i Horizons is a brand new online magazine of insights, stories and reflections from the Australian Baha’i Community. The site exists to share news, community-building endeavours, individual initiatives, events and announcements from across the country in a public, easily accessible format. The editorial team for the new site writes that: The National Spiritual Assembly [of Australia] has lovingly invested in the production of this news website in order to further reflect the developments taking place across the county, to strengthen the ties between the three protagonists of ..read more

Maya Jaros is the heart and mind behind Near&Dear, a company that creates e-cards for Baha’i holy days, special occasions of other faiths, and secular celebrations. Her e-cards are joyful and vibrant; they offer a splash of colour and a dash of love in our current virtual ways of communicating. Maya kindly agreed to tell us a bit more about her e-cards but first, here’s a small sampling of what Near&Dear offers (be sure to click on each image to see how it is animated): View this post on Instagram A post shared by Near&Dear (@nearandearhere) View this post on Instagram A post ..read more

Dr. Michael Knopf is a concert guitarist and composer, a dedicated teacher and a music researcher living in South-East Queensland. Michael has many, many compositions and projects to his name and we were recently delighted to learn about a 38 song collection of devotional music called The Paramount Project. In Michael’s own words, “The Paramount Project is collection of new devotional songs presented in the tonic sol fa music reading system and supported by music notation and piano keyboard note learning. Its aim is to assist community and personal development in both social and devotion ..read more

The following is our monthly newsletter. You can get a copy sent directly to your inbox! In the Oxford Online Dictionary “glory” is defined as high renown or honour won by notable achievements; magnificence or great beauty; praise, worship, and thanksgiving offered to a deity; a luminous ring or halo, especially as depicted around the head of Jesus Christ or a saint; and the act of taking great pride or pleasure in something. In this month’s newsletter, I thought I would highlight some new Baha’i Blog content that introduces us to a group of writers, illustrators, musicians, and stor ..read more

In the context of human unity, the Baha’i teachings convey a simple yet profound truth: “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” Baha’u’llah1 This guiding principle not only shaped my understanding of oneness, but it also found resonance in my upbringing. As a child of interracial marriage, I was lucky to grow up in a place where most of my friends were also mixed-race, and this contributed to a sense of normalcy around diverse family structures. Growing up on Saipan, an island in the South Pacific, interracial marriage was so normalised that the idea of my parents bein ..read more

My family loves podcasts and audio books for driving in the car or for quiet times at home. Over the years my children have consistently been enraptured by storytellers whose art and craft have enchanted them and as a parent, I am very grateful for them. You can imagine the thrill when I learned about a new podcast series featuring stories about Abdu’l-Baha put together by Sana Vasli. The episodes are accessible for young listeners but are truly enjoyable for all ages and they can be listened to on Spotify or Apple podcasts. I am delighted Sana was able to share with us all about “Stories of ..read more

The following is our monthly newsletter. You can get a copy sent directly to your inbox! It’s a new day and a new year! One of the wonderful things about this time of year is the opportunity it offers to reflect on the year that’s just past. Creating a habit of reflection is so important in our growth and development. In The Hidden Words, Baha’u’llah writes: O SON OF BEING! Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds. This always leaves me thinking, if we’re ..read more

Gary Corson courtesy of his daughter Rochelle When great teachers die, it is as if access to a whole library of knowledge is now denied to us. That certainly is the case for many Baha’is in New Zealand who learned so much from Gary Corson. He passed away in Invercargill in the South Island of New Zealand last year. But all of us can imagine Gary (1934-2023) calling out from his high perch in the Abha Kingdom: “For goodness’ sake remember what we discussed!” Gary would be reminding us that by using our own minds we should continue in our eternal process of learning about reality. That process ..read more

AI and the ethics behind it is a super relevant topic. We’ve shared a little bit about it on Baha’i Blog when Ruha Benjamin asked if technology is our slayer or our saviour and when Matt Weinberg spoke on the BWNS’ podcast about how our values, our aspirations, and our needs are integrated into the design, development, and use of technology. I love when art and creative endeavours also contribute to the discourse and in this interview, we hear from writer James (Jim) Connolly about his novel Crash and the Human Continuum whose protagonist is a robot. Can you tell us a little about yourself? W ..read more