About

Grab a slice of cake, a cup of tea, and spend the morning with Catherine Newman and Zeina Sleiman, whose new novels explore the bonds and fractures of family life. Wreck, Newman’s warm and witty follow-up to Sandwich, turns a sharp eye to marriage, parenting, and the absurdities of everyday life. Alongside her, Sleiman will share from her moving work Where the Jasmine Blooms. At once a political historical thriller and a Muslim feminist love story, Sleiman’s writing explores what it means to carry home within you—even when displacement reshapes your sense of place. Together, they will discuss how fiction can illuminate the joys and struggles of family, and the surprising ways love endures through uncertainty and change.

Moderated by Wendy O’Brien

Generously supported by The Lynn and Brent Belzberg Foundation

Wreck

Read more about Wreck

Buy from Apple Books

Buy from

Buy from HarperCollins Canada

The Book of Disappearance

Read more about The Book of Disappearance

Buy from

Buy from

Buy from Syracuse University Press

Catherine Newman

Catherine Newman is the New York Times bestselling author of the memoirs Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting for Birdy, the middle-grade novel One Mixed-Up Night, the kids’ craft book Stitch Camp, the best-selling how-to books for kids How to Be a Person and What Can I Say?, and the novels We All Want Impossible Things, Sandwich, and Wreck (forthcoming from HarperCollins). Her books have been translated into a dozen languages.

Read more about Catherine Newman

Zeina Sleiman

Zeina Sleiman is a Palestinian Canadian writer based out of Edmonton. In 2025, her short story, My Father's Soil was shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize and she was listed among 22 Canadian writers to watch.

Read more about Zeina Sleiman