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Image for event: A Discussion with Nimra and Manahil Bandukwala

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A Discussion with Nimra and Manahil Bandukwala

in partnership with Words Worth Books

2024-10-03 19:00:00 2024-10-03 20:00:00 America/New_York A Discussion with Nimra and Manahil Bandukwala Adults Eastside Branch - Program Room

Thursday, October 03
7:00pm - 8:00pm

Add to Calendar 2024-10-03 19:00:00 2024-10-03 20:00:00 America/New_York A Discussion with Nimra and Manahil Bandukwala Adults Eastside Branch - Program Room

Eastside Branch

Program Room

Adults

Join sisters and co-authors Nimra and Manahil Bandukwala, with moderator Mariam Pirbhai, as they discuss their book Women Wide Awake, a collection of stories, poems, and visual art exploring folklore from the region of Sindh, Pakistan. This multi-genre book features stories of women, witches, sea monsters, and mystical saints, accompanied by art and poetry.

Presented in partnership with Words Worth Books in celebration of 40 years.

About Women Wide Awake:

Women Wide Awake is a collection of stories, poems, and visual art exploring folklore from the region of Sindh, Pakistan. This multi-genre book features stories of women, witches, sea monsters, and mystical saints, accompanied by art and poetry. Collectively they explore themes that have resonated with people for centuries—acts of courage, strength, defiance, and love. Two sisters build a labyrinthine palace to test their suitors . . . a woman swims across a treacherous river at night to meet her forbidden lover . . . a bartendress makes a grave mistake. These folktales have persisted across generations and national boundaries through ritual storytelling and song. The sculptures were created using reclaimed materials: sari fabric, wedding invitations, flowers, shells, and animal bones.

About the Authors:

Manahil Bandukwala is the author of Heliotropia (Brick Books 2024) and Monument (Brick Books 2022, shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award). With her sister Nimra Bandukwala, she co-created Reth aur Reghistan, a multidisciplinary project that interprets Pakistani folklore through contemporary media. With the project, she has published Women Wide Awake (Mawenzi House 2023). She is the recipient of arts grants from the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the City of Ottawa. In 2023, she was selected as a Writer's Trust of Canada Rising Star by Shani Mootoo. See her work at manahilbandukwala.com.

Nimra Bandukwala (she/her) is a visual artist and maker of crafts using foraged and found materials. She creates paints and dyes with plants and rocks, while exploring stories and histories of these materials. She was born and raised in Karachi and is now settled on the traditional territories of the Attawandaron, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples in so-called Cambridge, Ontario. She has facilitated community-engaged workshops with folks of all ages and abilities in schools and community-based settings. She co-leads Reth aur Reghistan, a project that explores folklore from Sindh, with her sister Manahil. Her work can be found on her website, nimrabandukwala.com and on Instagram @‌nimrabandukwala.art.

About the Moderator:

Mariam Pirbhai is the award-winning author of two works of fiction, Isolated Incident and Outside People and Other Stories, and a recent book of creative nonfiction, Garden Inventories: Reflections on Land, Place and Belonging. She is professor of English at Wilfrid Laurier University, and the author of several academic studies on the literatures of the global South Asian diaspora. Her academic and creative work is written from a decolonial lens and driven by social justice issues impacting migrant and diasporic communities. Pirbhai is the daughter of Pakistani immigrants to Canada. She lives and works in Waterloo, Ontario.

Programmer:  Ikhlas


Photography Notice: Please note that photographs and video may be taken at this event and may be broadcast, reproduced and/or made available in print or online. For individual or small group photos, staff will make attendees aware of their presence and will ask permission before taking photos.

For larger public events, please note that by attending, you are consenting to the use of your appearance, image and voice in print or digital productions created by the Waterloo Public Library for promotional use only. Please speak to library staff at the event if you’d like to be excluded from any photo/video.

Eastside Branch

Phone: 519-886-1310

Hours
Mon, Mar 03 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Tue, Mar 04 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Wed, Mar 05 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Thu, Mar 06 9:30AM to 9:00PM
Fri, Mar 07 9:30AM to 5:30PM
Sat, Mar 08 9:30AM to 5:30PM
Sun, Mar 09 Closed

About the branch

Located at the RIM Park Manulife Sportsplex, the Eastside Branch boasts specialized creative spaces, quiet study areas, a nature education space and lots of natural light.

Upcoming events

Sat, Mar 08, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For ages 6 to 9 years old (grades 1 to 4) with a caregiver.
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Mon, Mar 10, 10:30am - 11:15am
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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Mon, Mar 10, 10:30am - 11:30am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
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Mon, Mar 10, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
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Mon, Mar 10, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
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Mon, Mar 10, 6:00pm - 6:45pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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Mon, Mar 10, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
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Tue, Mar 11, 10:30am - 12:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
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Tue, Mar 11, 10:30am - 11:30am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 9 to 12 years old.
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Tue, Mar 11, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Families

Wed, Mar 12, 10:30am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 5 to 7 years old.
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Wed, Mar 12, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For families with children ages 6 years and up.

Wed, Mar 12, 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For kids age 7 to 9 years old.
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Wed, Mar 12, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For tweens ages 9 to 12 years old.
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Thu, Mar 13, 10:30am - 11:15am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
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Thu, Mar 13, 10:30am - 12:00pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 5 to 12 years old.

Thu, Mar 13, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Families
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Thu, Mar 13, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For tweens ages 8 to 12 years old.

Fri, Mar 14, 10:30am - 11:30am
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For teens ages 12 to 15 years.

Fri, Mar 14, 10:30am - 11:30am
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For kids ages 4 and up with a caregiver.
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Sat, Mar 15, 10:30am - 11:30am
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 8 to 11 years old.

Sat, Mar 15, 10:30am - 11:30am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For families with children ages 5+ and their caregiver.

Sat, Mar 15, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 6 to 9 years.
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Mon, Mar 17, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For kids ages 6 to 8 years old.
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Mon, Mar 17, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 13 years old.

Wed, Mar 19, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Wed, Mar 19, 7:00pm - 8:45pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For AdultsRegister

Sat, Mar 22, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 6 to 9 years.
This event is full

Mon, Mar 24, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For kids ages 6 to 8 years old.
This event is full

Mon, Mar 24, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults
This event is full

Mon, Mar 24, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 13 years old.

Wed, Mar 26, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Wed, Mar 26, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For teens ages 13 to 18 years.
This event is full

Fri, Mar 28, 4:00pm - 4:45pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
Families with children ages 3 to 7 years old.

Sat, Mar 29, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 6 to 9 years.
This event is full

Mon, Mar 31, 6:30pm - 7:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For kids ages 6 to 8 years old.
This event is full

Tue, Apr 01, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For Adults
Registration opens Tuesday, March 11 2025 at 7:00pm

Wed, Apr 02, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
McCormick Branch
For Adults

Fri, Apr 04, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Main Library - James J. Brown Auditorium
For Adults
Registration opens Thursday, March 13 2025 at 7:00pm

Sat, Apr 05, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room,Program Room
For Families

Mon, Apr 07, 10:30am - 11:00am
McCormick Branch
For babies 0 to 12 months with a caregiver.
Registration opens Monday, March 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Apr 07, 10:30am - 11:30am
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Older Adults
Registration opens Monday, March 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Apr 07, 10:30am - 11:00am
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For ones ages 11 to 23 months with a caregiver.
Registration opens Monday, March 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Apr 07, 2:00pm - 2:45pm
McCormick Branch
For kids ages 2 to 5 years with a caregiver.
Registration opens Monday, March 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Apr 07, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 8 to 12 years old.
Registration opens Monday, March 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Apr 07, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
John M. Harper Branch - Community Room
For Adults
Registration opens Monday, March 17 2025 at 7:00pm

Mon, Apr 07, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Eastside Branch - Program Room
For tweens ages 10 to 13 years old.