About Gabrielle

Hi! My name is Gabrielle Deonath, but everyone calls me Gabbie. I’m a 27-year-old Muslim, Indo-Caribbean American woman, born and raised in New York. I also happen to be a writer and editor, with over a decade of editorial experience. 

I always loved to read, write, and tell stories from an early age, but I didn’t realize writing was a viable career path for me until I published my first essay in high school. The piece centered on my decision to wear the hijab at age 16. This choice was my “occasion for writing,” an experience that compelled me to put pen to paper. Soon after it was published, I received an offer to be a teen contributor for SISTERS Magazine, a then-print publication for Muslim girls and women. And so, my writing career began.

During undergrad, I pursued a major in communications with a concentration in journalism. I worked my way up from staff writer to editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. I also found Brown Girl Magazine, where I became a staff writer and was promoted to assistant editor of the politics and Indo-Caribbean teams in just three months.

I earned my bachelor’s degree from Adelphi University in 2018 and went on to work for mission-based organizations including Global Citizen and Girl Scouts of the USA. I first entered the publishing world as an editor and contributor for Brown Girl Magazine’s first print anthology, untold: defining moments of the uprooted, in 2021. My most recent book venture, Shukr, is an inspirational prayer and gratitude journal for Muslim women.