LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE MOSQUE

A hilarious collection of comedic essays about the trials and tribulations of Zarqa Nawaz, creator of “Little Mosque on the Prairie”. This is Tina Fey meets a religious David Sedaris.

Ever since the hit TV series “Little Mosque” debuted to record shattering ratings, fans and mainstream media have been fascinated with the behind-the-scenes story of its creator—her upbringing, her marriage, her kids, and her opinions on Muslim culture in the West—and now Nawaz is ready to open up, let the world in, and the jokes out. Laughing All The Way To The Mosque describes how a daughter of traditional, immigrant, slightly unhinged racist Pakistani parents avoided getting into medical school (terrible marks help), avoided an arranged marriage (being ugly helps), and accidentely created Canada's number one sitcom when in actuality she was trying to sell a comedy about a terrorist botching a hijacking—and was told by a producer that she had managed to pitch the most unsellable concept in the history of film. Unfazed by failure, of which Zarqa is painfully familiar with, she casually turned around and sold the story of a penniless Imam running a broken down mosque in the middle of the frozen Canadian prairies. And no, it did not scream ratings bonanza to her either. This is a collection about how to deal with sexism, extremism, and racism in a crazy Muslim community, all without getting killed. The answer? Very. Carefully. ZARQA NAWAZ created “Little Mosque on the Prairie” which premiered on the CBC in 2007. It is currently airing its sixth season and is watched in over 60 countries worldwide. “Little Mosque” landed Nawaz in the public eye and, when not writing, producing, or directing for the show, she has spent much of the past six years touring the world as a sought-after public speaker. Recently, she gave a keynote address at a YPO event in Toronto, which included Jordan's Prince Talal bin Mohammed and Irshad Manji. She has been interviewed or profiled by countless media outlets such as CNN, the BBC, The New York Times, al-Jazeera, and The Globe and Mail. She just launched her “Group Therapy” column for The Globe and Mail and is currently in talks with broadcasters to develop a new series based on this memoir.