Mariam Pirbhai Livres

Focusing on 'indenture history,' this book explores how local literary and cultural influences have shaped novel-length fiction by South Asian diaspora writers across various nations, including Mauritius, South Africa, Guyana, and Fiji. It delves into the unique historical contexts and experiences that inform these narratives, highlighting the diverse cultural landscapes from which these authors emerge.

Exploring the connection between plants and people, the author reflects on her journey of gardening in Waterloo, Ontario. Through her experiences with local flora, she draws parallels between plants' adaptability and human experiences of uprooting and belonging. The essays delve into themes of nostalgia, cultural ideals, and the interplay of tradition and nature, while highlighting specific plants that symbolize her quest for home. Ultimately, the work reveals how gardens encapsulate personal and collective histories, intertwining family, culture, and heritage.

Winner of the 2018 IPPY Gold Medal for Multicultural Fiction; WInner of the 2019 American BookFest Best Book Awards for Fiction-Short Story; 2019 International Book Awards & Best Book Awards Finalist A Haitian woman survives the ravages of an earthquake only to find her sister, an émigré in Montreal, the subject of a grisly crime. A chambermaid in a Mexican tourist resort frequented by Canadian tourists wonders why all the men in her life seem to leave her for distant lands. A Jamaican migrant worker at an Ontario chicken farm comes to the aid of his Peruvian co-worker on the eve of a fatal car accident. And a young Pakistani-Canadian woman finds herself in the midst of a protest march defending Muslim women's rights on the same day she has agreed to meet her Moroccan lover. The diverse cast of characters that energize Mariam Pirbhai's Outside People and Other Stories not only reflects a multicultural Canada but also the ease with which this striking debut collection inhabits the voices and perspectives of nation, hemisphere, and world.