by Zarqa Nawaz
Recommended by Janie Chang
The Amnesty International Book Club is pleased to announce our March 2017 title, Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, by Zarqa Nawaz (a memoir that is sure to get you laughing too). This title has been recommended by guest reader Janie Chang, author of Dragon Springs Road and Three Souls. In this guide, you’ll find Chang’s considerate reflection upon Nawaz’s colourful memoir, as well as discussion questions, an Amnesty background section, and an action you can take for Raif Badawi.
Laughing All the Way to the Mosque is a fun book to read. Nawaz is a natural storyteller, and the episodes she selects from her life illustrate both personal and unexpected details alongside big picture questions around religion, culture, career and family. Ideas worthy of serious reflection are shared with the reader through laugh-out-loud tales of halal chicken, awkwardness with the plumber, teenage rebellion, writing Little Mosque on the Prairie, match making and more.
The Amnesty International Book Club hopes that through the reading experience you not only pause to laugh, but consider the spirit of proactivity and taking charge of one’s life, even amongst the chaos, that author Zarqa Nawaz exhibits so well through her storytelling. Then, consider those who could not be so free in their expression, and visit our action page within the guide.
Click below to download the discussion guide.
About Janie Chang
Janie Chang draws upon family history for her novels. She grew up listening to stories about ancestors who encountered dragons, ghosts, and immortals, and about life in a small Chinese town in the years before the Second World War.
She is a graduate of The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University. She is also the founder and main organizer of Canadian Authors for Indies, a national day of support by authors for independent bookstores.
Born in Taiwan, Janie has lived in the Philippines, Iran, Thailand, and New Zealand. She now lives in beautiful Vancouver, Canada.
Her first novel, Three Souls, was a finalist for the 2014 BC Book Prizes Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and one of nine Canadian books long-listed for the 2015 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, Dragon Springs Road, was published in early 2017.
About the Author
Zarqa Nawaz
ZARQA NAWAZ created Little Mosque on the Prairie. Premiering on the CBC in 2007, it ran for six seasons, was watched in over sixty countries and landed Nawaz in the public eye. When not writing, producing or directing for the show, she has spent much of the past six years writing comedy pilots for ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, and touring the world as a sought-after public speaker. She has been interviewed or profiled by CNN, the BBC, The New York Times and Al Jazeera. A contributor to CBC’s DNTO, Zarqa Nawaz lives in Regina with her loving but long-suffering family.
