Our Debut Author Spotlite features debut books of all genres by authors living in Canada. Our goal is to spotlight their stories and help Canadian and Indigenous authors connect with readers from around the world.
Jamaluddin Aram is a documentary filmmaker, producer, and writer from Kabul, Afghanistan. His short story “This Hard Easy Life” was a finalist for RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers in 2020. He was selected as a mentee by Michael Christie for the Writers’ Trust of Canada Mentorship program for his book Marchoba, now titled Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday, his debut novel. He is the associate producer of the Academy Award–nominated film Buzkashi Boys. He lives in Toronto.
Connect with Jamal on Facebook @Jamaluddin.Aram or on Instagram and Twitter @JamaluddinAram
From the publisher: It is the early 1990s, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Russian occupation has ended, and civil war has broken out, but life roars on in full force in the working-class town of Wazirabad.
A rash of burglaries has stolen people’s sleep. Fifteen-year-old Aziz awakens from a dark dream that prompts him to plant shards of glass along the wall surrounding his house to protect his family against theft. Aziz’s sister, Seema, decorates kites with her calligraphy and sells fresh scorpions to spare her mother from servicing the local soldiers. Along the main street, three militiamen wait for the fighting to resume, while the Baker, the Watchmaker, the Tailor, and the Vegetable Seller make their modest living and the Bonesetter reads poetry to his cat. And every day at noon, a flaming red rooster walks three blocks to visit his favourite hens.
But tensions rise among the town’s people. The burglaries have put everyone on edge. The militiamen are on the hunt for the thief who stole their dog—and their ammunition. And a widow, who is the target of men’s lust and women’s scorn, soon finds herself on the periphery of a terrible violence. While the armed conflict rages on in the background, rumours swirl with a feverish frenzy, culminating in the collective chorus of the town’s living, breathing dreams.
Raves
Sharon Bala, author
“Aram paints a vivid portrait of a neighbourhood and its denizens, obstinately going about their daily lives despite deprivation and violence. Anyone who has been ensconced in a close-knit community will recognize these complicated characters whose humanity Aram reveals with unerring and unsentimental precision.”
Michael Christie, author
“With this sublimely engrossing novel, Jamaluddin Aram has evoked the spirit of a small Afghani community by cataloguing its dreams, crimes, visions, jokes, characters, and myths. All with an aching tenderness that warms every single page. This is the work of a fully formed literary talent, a writer you should not only watch, but listen to, as closely as you possibly can.”
Alix Ohlin, author
“This is a moving and original debut novel from a very talented writer. I loved its inventive structure, which guides the reader through the linked lives of the people of Wazirabad. Chapter by chapter we’re invited into their dreams, to experience the tenderness and troubles of their lives. The result is resonant and communal storytelling about people and a place that will stick with you for a long time.”
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