Farzana Doctor

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Nik
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Farzana Doctor

Goodreads Author


Born
in Zambia
Website

Twitter

Genre

Member Since
April 2007


I'm the author of Stealing Nasreen (Inanna 2007) and Six Metres of Pavement (Dundurn, 2011), All Inclusive (Dundurn, 2015) and Seven (2020).

My poetry collection, You Still Look The Same, will be released in 2022.
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Farzana Doctor Hi Mo,
Each book has been a different process for me. Stealing Nasreen was a book that started from a few kernel ideas: Shaffiq and he and his family's…more
Hi Mo,
Each book has been a different process for me. Stealing Nasreen was a book that started from a few kernel ideas: Shaffiq and he and his family's underemployment, Nasreen's burnout, and I also wanted a book that contained a queer South Asian character. I wrote the first scene, and then the next and so on, pretty much in the order (with a few edits along the way) that the book is in now.

Six Metres of Pavement arose in a similar way--I had a sense of some of the themes, but the scenes just "arrived".

All Inclusive was similar, but I did a major revision after writing the book, after "hearing" a new character's arrival.

I think as I've become more experienced as a writer, I'm developed the story a bit more before doing the bulk of the writing. I don't outline, but as I embarked on writing my fourth book, I considered "what's this book about", "what am I trying to say", "who are these characters" before going forward. I did a lot of pen-and-paper early morning writing with this novel, writing scene after scene after scene in a notebook, for the first time in a long time.

So I don't see the whole thing playing out, but I do see scenes playing out.

Thanks for your question!(less)
Farzana Doctor So many! I read as much as I can (when not distracted by Netflix). Some of my fave writers are Zadie Smith, Barbara Gowdy and Gregory Scofield.
Average rating: 3.87 · 2,167 ratings · 436 reviews · 14 distinct worksSimilar authors
Seven

4.04 avg rating — 1,025 ratings — published 2020 — 7 editions
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Six Metres of Pavement

3.77 avg rating — 351 ratings — published 2011 — 7 editions
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All Inclusive

3.75 avg rating — 308 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions
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You Still Look the Same

3.75 avg rating — 189 ratings — published 2022 — 5 editions
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The Beauty of Us

3.51 avg rating — 162 ratings4 editions
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Stealing Nasreen

3.67 avg rating — 117 ratings — published 2007 — 4 editions
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52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life ...

4.73 avg rating — 11 ratings
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Six Metres of Pavement

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
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All Inclusive

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating2 editions
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52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life ...

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More books by Farzana Doctor…

US (online) launch of 52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life

Join us to celebrate the launch of 52 Weeks in the US!

Wednesday October 16, 7:30pm EDT
In conversation with Dr. B. Nilaja Green and organized by Charis Books
Online, free, all welcome. Register here

About 52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life for Caregivers, Activists and Helping Professionals:
This practical, low-maintenance workbook explores self-care and community care from an inside-out and collective ap
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Published on October 11, 2024 08:40

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Comments (showing 1-2)    post a comment »
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message 2: by Qais

Qais Ghanem Hello Farzana. Good to see u on this website. Here is my final book, with a tremendous review by our mutual friend, Tarek Fatah. Would YOU consider writing one if sufficiently impressed?

My two new books for 2019 are:
1. Democracy, Deity & Death - A Discussion by Four Arabs (Austin Macauley - London): publication 25 June.
a story whose basic settings are real and could feasibly happen in the real-world.
https://www.austinmacauley.com/authors
2. Taaali ma3ee nulahiquhu ila Tunis - تعالي معي نلاحقه إلى تونس https://austinmacauley.ae/books/come-... - 45 Dirhams
Qais Ghanem Ottawa, Canada, if need qghanem2@gmail.com
===================================
These are the ‘Four Arabs’ who fill Qais Ghanem’s 130-page book with their opinions and discussions on ‘Democracy, Deity and Death,’ which is the sub-title of his book, but in essence, page after page, these four Arabs primarily discuss Islam as well as Sharia the 8th century laws whose weight has become the burden a billion Muslims today.
Every Muslim home should have a copy of ‘Four Arabs’ and they will find in it a reflection of the discussions all of us have, in varying degrees. Dr. Ghanem has done us all a tremendous favour and a service in using fiction to lay bare the truth we are told never to utter in public lest the ‘kufaar’ find a chink in non-existent armour.
Part of Review by TAREK FATAH , famous Toronto Author of Chasing a Mirage
=================================================
I highly recommend it to all who want to understand the Middle East and its three monotheistic traditions. It is both hopeful, in that the characters express hope for change, for the way in which the religions, and especially Islam, will find peace with modernity; and gloomy, in that the people being discussed still cannot let go of their great historical achievements, haven’t learned and are unlikely ever to learn how to use logic, and always fail to listen to each other, and so consensus among them is impossible! There are undoubtedly some minor exaggerations, but the writing is fluid, the momentum never wanes, and everything is all done so beautifully, with great dollops of heart-warming humour!
Prof. Abdulla Daar, author of Garment of Destiny, Toronto, Canada


message 1: by Mo

Mo All the best on All Inclusive's
U.S. release on August 5th
Farzana. I'll be cheering you
from beautiful British Columbia
this time. Cheers! Mo


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