“Naga’s novel has helped ask new questions of my grief. A piece of art like this has not existed for me before this. It ushers me inside without explanation, pity or pretence. It allows me the flesh of our mess, our visceral and sometimes repugnant longing.” —from Sanna Wani’s review “Hungry, Breathing” in The Puritan

“Naga’s work . . . tackles difficult subjects in piercing, winged language and innovative form. Her writing sings and enchants as it grapples with gender politics, depicts diasporic culture, and challenges flat representations of Muslim characters.”—from Sara Elkamel’s interview “A Crisis of Desire” in Mada Masr

“Neither preachy about nor condescending of her characters’ faith, [Naga] takes seriously their relationship with God as a shifting source of knowledge, comfort, and confusion. At once fast-paced and reflective, reverent and irreverent, and infused with sharp-witted humor throughout, Naga’s debut leaves me grateful for all of the weird wonderfulness it has brought into the world . . .” —from Phoebe Bay Carter’s review in ArabLit

“These poems glide between scenes of quiet intimacy and smiling friendship. They get to the heart of difficult matter the way good poets do—by admitting awe and honesty. Washes, Prays is an inventive, genre-defying hybrid that offers a deeply necessary portrait of a Muslim woman. It dissolves stereotypes . . . making room for female desire, friendship, and the consolations of faith.” —from Shazia Hafiz Ramji’s review in Quill & Quire

“[E]xhilarating, mile-a-minute prose poems that are fresh, provocative, and often funny. These visceral pieces take surprising hairpin turns, pulling the reader through proclamations, inquiries, and bursts of self-doubt. Noor Naga achieves all this with a language that is rich and sensory, and a visually rigid structure that counter-intuitively unfolds to allow a multiplicity of pacing and play.” —from the Jury Citation for the 2017 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award

“Naga has the ability to capture a universe within a few lines: ‘rain like glass needles so sharp I hear them slice the air clatter excitedly off the hoods of cars / nouf turns her face to the sky like a happy pincushion.’  . . . Washes, Prays tells old stories in new language.” —from Adnan Khan’s review in The Walrus

“[A] lyrical novel that opens with a fierce ontology of its self-contained world of poetics—an introduction fit for an ancient Arabic love poem. Naga beautifully navigates ancient culture with a startlingly fresh contemporary lens. Her poetry pays homage to tradition but is not afraid to criticize it as well. . . [A] brilliant debut, containing one breathtaking poem after another.” —from Khashayar Mohammadi’s review “Taxonomy of Betrayal” in Arc Poetry Magazine

“Noor Naga’s novella Washes, Prays is a delight to read — which poses a problem for the admiring reader: the story is the story of heartbreak, and we can not help but respond feelingly to the heroine’s distress. And yet, — it is full of jokes.” —from M. Travis Lane’s review “Tronno Hijabi” in The Fiddlehead

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