BOOK LAUNCH
Zoya Patel at MUSE
3—4pm Sunday 5 March
Muse, East Hotel, Kingston Canberra ACT
Join Zoya at Muse to celebrate the launch of Once a Stranger.
FREE ENTRY (REGISTRATIONS ESSENTIAL)
Complimentary refreshments provided.
A novel about family, tradition, loss and the challenge of feeling at home from Canberra favourite Zoya Patel.
Their mother was sick. Their mother was dying. Laila wanted her to come home. She wasn't sure which of the two truths was more frightening.
Ayat hasn't seen or spoken to her sister, Laila, and mother, Khadija, for six years. She has been estranged from her family since she baulked against the arranged marriage of her sister and settled into a relationship deemed haram by Indian Muslim tradition.
Living in Melbourne, with Harry, Ayat's a different person now, living a different life. She is not the woman her mother and sister once knew - so how can she go home? But how can she not?
Once a Stranger weaves through the past and present to show the bonds and disconnects between sisters, and between a mother and daughter, as the three women grapple with the idea of where they feel most at home.
Zoya Patel is the author of No Country Woman, a memoir of race, religion and feminism. She is co-host of The Guardian's Book It In podcast, and the Margin Notes podcast alongside Yen Eriksen. Zoya is a columnist for the RiotACT, and regular books critic and writer for The Guardian, Canberra Times, SBS Voices, Refinery29 and more. Zoya has won numerous awards for her writing and editing, and she was a 2020 judge for the Stella Prize and Chair of the 2021 Stella Prize judging panel.
Venue
Muse, East Hotel
69 Canberra Ave, Kingston ACT
T: (02) 6178 0024