A Reading with Randa Jarrar & AQSAzine
Randa Jarrar is the author of the critically acclaimed novel "A Map of Home" which was published in half a dozen languages and won a Hopwood Award, an Arab-American Book Award, and was named one of the best novels of 2008 by the Barnes and Noble Review.
Randa Jarrar’s fresh, funny and fearless debut novel chronicles the coming-of-age of Nidali, one of the most unique and irrepressible narrators in contemporary fiction. Born in 1970s Boston to an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, the rebellious Nidali—whose name is a feminization of the word “struggle”— soon moves to a very different life in Kuwait. There the family leads a mildly eccentric middle-class existence—until the Iraqi invasion drives them first to Egypt and then to Texas. With echoes of Jhumpa Lahiri and Marjane Satrapi, this critically acclaimed debut novel is set to capture the hearts of everyone who’s ever wondered what their own map of home might look like.
Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Five Chapters, Guernica, The
Oxford American, The New York Times Magazine, The Utne Reader, and The
Progressive. She has received residencies from the Civitella Ranieri
Foundation, Hedgebrook, Caravansarai, and Eastern Frontier, and was
chosen to take part in Beirut39, which celebrates the 39 most gifted
writers of Arab origin under the age of 40. She currently lives in
Fresno, CA where she is Assistant Professor of English and is completing
a collection of stories and a new novel, about a young single mother
and her magical son.
Book signing to follow. Books available for purchase at the event provided by the Toronto Women’s Bookstore.
www.randajarrar.com
From AQSAzine
Shadi Eskandani is an Iranian-born, Toronto-based poet/writer/youth support worker. She has a Masters degree in Social Anthropology from York University. Her publications appear in Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith and Sexuality. She has also translated an Iranian children’s book, "Good Night Commander". Shadi facilitates poetry workshops around the city, and as well, has performed her poetry at various events in Toronto. Shadi is currently completing a collection of her poetry, and working on a novella.
Ghadeer is a Palestinian, Toronto based writer, poet and spoken word performer. She is a member and editor of AQSAzine, a arts based collective. Ghadeer is a active on women’s rights issues and is a strong advocate of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to end Israeli Apartheid, Occupation and Colonization of Palestine. Her poetry was recently published in "Feminism for REAL" edited by Jessica Yee.
AQSAzine (est. 2007) is a Toronto-based grassroots arts collective by and for young women and trans people who self-identify as Muslim. Our main project is the creation of AQSAzine, a biannual zine of our writing, art, activism. This zine is a creative avenue for young Muslim women and trans people to express ourselves, share experiences and connect with others. We strive to work from an explicit anti-oppressive, pro-choice, queer positive & trans-positive framework.
www.aqsazine.com
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Need to know:
- Doors open at 6:45
- By Donation
- Accessible on demand via portable ramp; washrooms not accessible
Tasty refreshments (non-alcoholic) and Zatoun oliveoil+za'atar dipping.