WAJAHAT ALI: THE PLAYWRIGHT

Wajahat Ali (playwright) is a Muslim American of Pakistani descent. The Domestic Crusaders is his first play. Born and raised in the Fremont Bay Area, he has been writing, producing and directing plays, films, and sketches since he was a child, enlisting his friends to be actors and crew. He performed stand-up comedy while attending the University of California, Berkeley. In Fall, 2001, during his undergraduate studies there, he hesitantly began writing The Domestic Crusaders in order to pass a 20 page short story assignment due for a writing class taught by Ishmael Reed, and with his encouragement, transformed the piece into a full length play.

In addition,  Ali writes prolifically on contemporary affairs, politics, the media, popular culture and religion for the Washington Post, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Counterpunch and Chowk.

His blog, "Goatmilk: An Intellectual Playground" is ranked in the top 7% of all political blogs and recently rated "Great" by blogged.com.

He is the associate editor of Altmuslim.com and contributing editor to Illume Magazine

His first short story "Ramadan Blues" is published in the excellent American short story anthology "Pow-Wow: American Short Fiction. From Then to Now".

His first movie, "Ms. Judgments," was a finalist for the Link TV Muslim American Film Competition.

He is an Attorney at Law practicing in the Bay Area, California.

Wajahat Ali has managed to write one fictional family's story that, with a mixture of humor and tragedy, removes cherished stereotypical assumptions and underlines the complications of living in today's world.