Join Dr. Sharifa Sharif on Thursday, April 25th, 2024 to celebrate the launch of a new edition of her book On the Edge of Being: An Afghan Woman’s Journey. Dr. Sharif will be reading an excerpt from her book and signing copies at the Owl’s Nest Bookstore in Calgary, AB from 7:00pm-8:30pm.
Dr. Sharif will also be in conversation with Melissa Bottoms, the Fund Development Manager for Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. The book launch is free to attend; please register via Eventbrite. Walk-ins are still welcome if you are unable to RSVP. Attendees should note that this event will be filmed for the upcoming documentary Thunder of Clouds: What Women Can Do.
“I felt connected to the street girls, as if our silent smiles spoke a thousand words between us.”
Dr. Sharifa Sharif, On the Edge of Being: An Afghan Woman’s Journey
Sometimes painful and at other times shocking, the stories in On the Edge of Being are still hopeful. The world that Afghan women inhabit in this memoir illuminates the split between body and voice — a split that has wrought a devastating impact on the women of Afghanistan.
The daughter of a progressive Afghan governor, Sharifa Sharif observes from an early age that life for women — both within and beyond the walls of their homes — is neither simple nor fair. As she navigates the rocky terrain of what it means to be a woman in Afghan society, Sharif candidly connects her own troubling experiences with those of girls and women around her: those who appeal to her father for justice, those who work as servants in her friends’ homes, and those of her own mother, whose inability to alter the restrictions in her own life evokes both anger and empathy.
From her childhood travels through the poorest provinces in Afghanistan to life as a schoolteacher and an immigrant student in North America, Sharif strives to define her identity through her experiences of marginality — and learns to reclaim her body and herself.
First published in 2011, On the Edge of Being is more pertinent than ever as girls in Afghanistan continue to survive against all odds. In her new prologue, Sharif reminds her readers that the people of Afghanistan are paying the price — no matter which government, ideology, or side is at fault.
On the Edge of Being: An Afghan Woman’s Journey
ISBN: 9781738818280
$24.95 Paperback
Pre-order HERE
Pownal Street Press is PEI’s newest publishing house. Women owned and women led, friendly, warm and professional: Pownal Street Press brings an approachable perspective to publishing books. With decades’ of experience, Pownal Street Press Co-Founders, Genevieve Loughlin and Mo Duffy Cobb have extensive publishing backgrounds across editorial, book design, marketing and sales. With distribution through Raincoast Books, Pownal Street Press’ titles have national reach but local heart. For more information about the Press and its books, please visit: www.pownalstreetpress.com.