Join us for an in-person event with creator of Little Mosque on the Prairie, writer and producer Zarqa Nawaz for a discussion of her debut novel Jameela Green Ruins Everything. Joining Zarqa in conversation is presenter and senior producer at AJ+ Sana Saeed. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

Can’t make the event? Purchase a signed copy of Jameela Green Ruins Everything here.

STRAND IN-PERSON EVENT COVID-19 POLICY:

In-person events will be presented to a fully vaccinated and masked audience. All patrons over the age of five will be required to show proof* of having completed the COVID-19 vaccination series at least 14 days prior to the date of the event.

*Proof of vaccination will be defined as either an original vaccination card, Excelsior Pass or its equivalent. We will be checking to ensure compliance with the 14 day waiting period post-vaccination.

Registration will be required online. No tickets for entry will be sold at the door.

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Jameela Green only has one wish.

To see her memoir on the New York Times bestseller list. When her dream doesn’t come true, she seeks spiritual guidance at her local mosque. New imam and recent immigrant Ibrahim Sultan is appalled by Jameela’s shallowness, but agrees to assist her on one condition: that she perform a good deed.

Jameela reluctantly accepts his terms, kicking off a chain of absurd and unfortunate events. When the person the two do-gooders try to help is recruited by a terrorist group called D.I.C.K.—Dominion of the Islamic Caliphate and Kingdoms—the federal authorities become suspicious of Ibrahim, and soon after, the imam mysteriously disappears.

Certain that the CIA have captured Ibrahim for interrogation via torture, Jameela decides to set off on a one-woman operation to rescue him. Her quixotic quest soon finds her entangled in an international plan targeting the egomaniacal leader of the terrorist organization—a scheme that puts Jameela, and countless others, including her hapless husband and clever but disapproving daughter, at risk.

For fans of Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and My Sister, the Serial Killer, Jameela Green Ruins Everything is a whip-smart black comedy about the price of success, ​​and a biting look at what has gone wrong with American foreign policy in the Middle East. It is a compulsively readable, yet unexpectedly touching novel about one woman's search for meaning and connection, and about the lengths we go for those we love.

Zarqa Nawaz is a writer and filmmaker who created Little Mosque on the Prairie, the first television show which portrayed the ordinary lives of Canadian Muslims. The sitcom gave CBC television it’s highest ratings in twenty years and currently airs on Amazon. She has been interviewed by CNN, the BBC, the New York Times, and Aljazeera. Her best-selling memoir, Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, was published in 2014 and was short listed for the prestigious Stephen Leacock award for humour.

Photo credit: Peter Scoular

Sana Saeed is an award-winning media critic currently a presenter and senior producer at AJ+, which she helped launch in 2014. For over a decade, Sana has been critiquing dominant news and popular media narratives on topics such as, but not limited to, Islam, Palestine and U.S. foreign policy. Her work and words have been featured in a variety of international news media ranging from BBC World to The New York Times to NBC. She currently hosts and produces a media critique series ‘Backspace’ which looks at how stories are told in our headlines and how they can be told a little better. She holds a BA and MA from McGill University and grew up between the US and Canada, calling both New York and Vancouver home. You can follow her on Twitter at @sanasaeed.