LOS ANGELES — Some people express their passion, fears and hopes in their own diary tucked away somewhere underneath their pillow.

But Dania Al-Khouli, 20, bravely reveals it all in “91 at 19,” a poetry book she self-published at the age of 19.

“Being a Muslim Arab American female, who wears the head cover, I thought publishing a book — and not just any book, but a book of pure expression, passion and emotion — could surpass so many barriers that the media and that culture places upon us,” Al-Khouli says.

Al-Khouli’s journey began when she entered the teenage realm. Poetry helped her transition from the qualms of being a teenager to entering adulthood. By the age of 19, Dania wrote 91 poems and realized she also had a catchy title to go along with it.

After doing research online to find a decent publishing company, yet careful not to fall into the traps of out-of-state publishers that wanted the money upfront, Al-Khouli finally found a publisher, Seven Locks Press Inc., through interfaith connections in Huntington Beach.

The initial book revealed a side of her she usually never shared with anyone.

“The ones I’d show to some people for feedback did not revolve around the topic of love and relationships — they were the ones about religion, life, nature or family. But deep inside, I knew that when I wrote the ones about the 'tabooed' subject, my heart gave an extra jolt, making the words a bit deeper,” Al-Khouli says. “But I’ll point out that I feel they are culturally tabooed, not religiously. I never understood why it was always considered OK for a man to express his heartbeats to a woman or the world, but a woman couldn’t.”

Al-Khouli’s favorite time to write was also the most unexpected time. “Most of my best poems happen to come right as I’m about to go to sleep. And this has happened so many times that I’ve learned my lesson. I usually keep a notebook and pen, or my phone, by my bedside.”

Her breakthrough to the community was about to also be revealed to the world. However, something went wrong.

“It started out like a bad dream at first with the silences and the waiting and the confusion. Then finally I discovered the publishing company had gone out of business and was in debt.”

The deal was she would sell a third of the books, and the company would sell the rest and get her into Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Threads away from setting up a book signing in Barnes and Noble and selling online, her publisher, in severe debt and pushed over the ledge by the economy, went out of business.

Burned by her experience with the publisher, Al-Khouli offers aspiring authors some sound advice – research, research, research and lastly, more research. “Also, talk to book store owners and try to get commitments on wholesale orders in advance, especially if you are self-publishing,” she says.

Now, left with all the books to sell on her own, Dania is reaching out like never before, attending any open-mics she can find and asking people from the community to host an evening of poetry.

“With all the troubles I had to and am going through, I still smile when I see the book with the beautiful cover and my name on it. It makes you feel good to see your accomplishment compiled up in something official,” she says.

Although wearing your heart on your sleeve is not an easy feat, writing from the heart without feeling ashamed is a common challenge many writers face.

“Innocently Pink and Searching has to be my favorite poem,” Al-Khouli says. “And that’s kind of what I was missing back when I wrote it — the confidence to feel what I wanted to without being ashamed.”

With all the tribulations faced, Al-Khouli has not given up hope and continues steadfast on her dream of making it into Barnes and Noble.

For now, Al-Khouli’s book can be purchased directly by contacting her directly at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .