Sat, Oct 31  •  5:30pm

The Small Ones: Nazanine Hozar in Conversation with John Irving

Nazanine Hozar and John Irving

Join the 2026 Giller long-listed author for a conversation

Fiction
Conversation
Ticket or Pass Required
Passes available
The Small Ones: Nazanine Hozar in Conversation with John Irving
The Small Ones: Nazanine Hozar in Conversation with John Irving

Sat, Oct 31  •  5:30pm

The Small Ones: Nazanine Hozar in Conversation with John Irving

Nazanine Hozar and John Irving

Join the 2026 Giller long-listed author for a conversation

Conversation
Fiction
Ticket or Pass Required
Passes available

About

In this very special event, the great author, John Irving will be in conversation with Nazanine Hozar to discuss her Giller-longlisted novel, The Small Ones. This gripping fable tells the story of children who are caught up in a military insurgence along the Iran–Iraq border in the early 1980s. This ragtag group of boys and one small girl, forced to become soldiers, create a little family of their own as they yearn to return home to safety. This extraordinary novel that takes us unflinchingly into a storm of deadly conflict through the eyes of its youngest participants, and questions the costs of war.

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 GILLER PRIZE “The Small Ones is a masterfully written, harrowing novel about the child martyrs used as front-line shields in the Iran-Iraq War—'us warrior children, us children of God,’ as our narrator tells us. A wondrous literary novel about a dark moment in history.” —John Irving In The Small Ones, Nazanine Hozar crafts a gripping fable about children who are caught up in a military insurgence along the Iran–Iraq border in the early 1980s (based on the real-life conflict of that time) and forced to become soldiers and martyrs.

Published by Penguin Random House Canada

Nazanine Hozar was born in Tehran, Iran, before coming to Canada as a child. Her debut novel, Aria, is an award-nominated bestseller that was published to international acclaim. The Small Ones is her second novel.

John Irving was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 1942. His first novel, Setting Free the Bears, was published in 1968, when he was twenty-six.

Dates & Times

Sat, Oct 31
5:30pm
6:30pm
A book signing will follow this event

Tickets

Full Festival Pass
SOLD OUT
Regular $159
Under 30 $79
5-Day Festival Pass
Includes 5-day festival events. Excludes Masterclasses.
Regular $159
Under 30 $79
2-Day Weekend
Includes all Victoria University events. Excludes Winter Garden Theatre events and Masterclasses.
Regular $69
Under 30 $39
1-Day Saturday
Includes all Saturday events.
Excludes Masterclasses.
Regular $39
Under 30 $29
Pass Information
5-Day Festival Pass includes Barbara Kingsolver and East West Street: A Song of Good & Evil .
2-Day Weekend and 1-Day Passes do not include Winter Garden Theatre events.

Venue

Isabel Bader Theatre
93 Charles St West, Toronto, ON

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