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Daliah Husu is a writer and a poet, whose work focuses on universal themes of love, self-acceptance, and spiritual and emotional fulfillment. Her lifelong struggle with gender identity, sexuality, social acceptance, and substance abuse has inspired her to share her remarkable story of survival.
Born into poverty in the slums of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Daliah had many challenges to overcome. At the age of eight, she moved to New Jersey to live with her estranged mother, her brother, and her stepfather, and a new world of possibilities opened up to her.
After transitioning from male-to-female in 2007, Daliah graduated with a BFA in Fashion Design from Miami International University of Art and Design. Since, she has dedicated herself to exploring various forms of artistic expression, ranging from costume design, acting, modeling, dancing, and a new-found passion for writing.
In 2011, she began writing poetry as an emotional outlet. Soon, the inspiration to write her memoirs seeded itself, and she began working on her first book: I Am Woman.
She now lives in a small town in Georgia with her husband, Ruben, whom she married in September 2015.
Visit www.daliahhusu.com to learn more about Daliah, her work, her passions, upcoming events, book releases, interview opportunities, or to book her as a guest speaker for your event.
You can follow Daliah on your favorite social platform:
facebook.com/daliahhusuauthor
twitter: @DaliahHusu
Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite
For me, as a reader, there's nothing more satisfying than picking up a book that I just can't put down. That usually only happens if the book is a thriller or a mystery written by a very skilled writer. It rarely happens when I read a memoir. So what a treat to pick up Daliah Husu's I am Woman and find myself turning pages at "thriller speed." Not that I am Woman is a thriller, but for someone who is relatively unfamiliar with, and curious about what it is like to be born male and, and as an adult, transition fully into a female, I was enthralled by what Daliah Husu shared about her life. What was even better was that she has the skill to write a memoir as if she were writing fiction. I haven't found that talent with many memoirists. I had to pinch myself a few times to realize I was reading a true story.
A lot happens to Daliah in I am Woman. After Daliah is born, as a boy, into Dominican poverty, his birth mother leaves Daliah to be raised by a grandmother, only to summon him some years later to live in comparative wealth in the US. But after a divorce a few years later, as he's constantly getting into trouble, his mother sends him back to an upper crust Dominican boarding school. As Dalia grows, the many moves from place to place, and eventually from job to job once back in the US, parallel the inner transition from male to female. Keeping nothing back, Daliah Husu shares it all: dancing in gay bars, snorting cocaine, holding top-level management jobs, being arrested for prostitution and more. I am Woman discloses everything openly, honestly and emotionally. Daliah simultaneously loves and hates her life, looking for love of herself and others in all the wrong places, fighting internal and external demons all the way, yet never feeling sorry for herself. As a result, she earns the reader's full respect.
The most satisfying memoirs are those that relate a story of overcoming struggles and finding oneself in the process. Even more satisfying are those where, by the end of the journey, protagonists are, at last, at peace with themselves. They have come to love the beautiful person inside. In I am Woman, Dalia Husu emerges a multiple winner: she finds peace, learns to love herself, meets a loving soulmate and partner, and discovers her talent as a writer. She also earns a new fan: me. I look forward to reading more by this remarkable woman and thank her for enlightening me about the difficulties faced by members of the LGTB community.
