Salma Hussain Interviews Monia Mazigh

(Mawenzi House, 2023)

(Mawenzi House, 2024)

Monia Mazigh

First, a confession from me: Monia Mazigh has fascinated me for years.
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She was thrust into the public arena in the early 2000s, when her husband, Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen (with dual Syrian citizenship), was held without charges in solitary confinement for two weeks in the United States then deported to Syria, where he was detained and tortured for almost a year.

During this time, Mazigh, a mother of two young children, became her husband’s unwavering, steadfast advocate. She campaigned tirelessly for his innocence and release. The Syrian government later stated that Arar was “completely innocent,” and a Canadian commission publicly and unequivocally cleared Arar of any links to terrorism or wrongdoing.

Monia Mazigh holds a PhD in finance from McGill and has taught as a professor of finance. After Arar’s release, she ran as a candidate for the NDP in the 2004 federal election. However, Monia’s causes and compassion don’t just begin or end there, for not only did Monia travel to Gaza to break the siege in 2009 as part of a humanitarian delegation, she also endorsed the Canadian Boat to Gaza (part of Freedom Flotilla 2) in 2011.
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Mazigh has been a columnist with ONFr+ and Radio-Canada. She has published several articles with the Ottawa Citizen, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

She has also penned a memoir, Hope and Despair (McClelland & Stewart, 2008), as well as two novels with House of Anansi (Mirrors & Mirages, 2014 and Hope Has Two Daughters, 2017).

Did I mention that Mazigh speaks and writes in Arabic, French and English fluently? Évidemment!
 
The idea for this interview arose after I read Monia Mazigh’s latest novel, Farida (Mawenzi House, 2020), which won the Ottawa Book Award for French fiction.  The English translation came out last year, was reviewed by Maria Meindl here, and was recently announced as a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Translation (2025).
 
In preparation for this interview, I also read Mazigh’s collection of non-fiction essays, Gendered Islamophobia: My Journey with a Scar(f) (Mawenzi House, 2023). This one was also a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award (2023). Bravo!

By her own account Mazigh states that she has found herself not progressive enough for some, and not Muslim enough for others (Gendered Islamophobia). Mazigh is a writer and woman who marches to the beat of her own drum, and so I was very curious to learn more. 

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Bref, let’s move on to the actual interview.
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Mazigh is a busy woman and always on the move, so I compiled a series of questions to allow us  to get to know her and her latest books (Farida & Gendered Islamophobia) in a time-efficient manner. In this particular interview, I also wanted to mix the serious with the silly and present a multi-faceted look at Monia Mazigh. 

[Please note: this interview was lightly edited for clarity and brevity.]

Monia, thank you so much for making time for this conversation today. Thank you also for your trust and going with the flow on this quirky and off-kilter interview!

Farida is a sweeping novel that starts in Tunisia in the 1940s and moves through different geographic settings and time periods. How the characters navigate the changing socio-political landscape captivated me, and the breadth and diversity of a multicultural Tunisia was richly drawn and presented. However, what was even more compelling and moving for me is what this novel had to say about marriage, motherhood, and the push and pull of propriety, modernity and traditions. I’m so curious about your thoughts on dating and marriage, but one can grasp that from the subtext in Farida. Instead, tell us have you seen Love is Blind Habibi? Trailer here. If you have not, are you now curious to?

​I have never watched Love is Blind Habibi. The trailer looks intriguing but I will be a bit hesitant as I am not a big fan of reality TV. I grew up in the relatively liberal environment of Tunis, Tunisia, and dating was not unheard of. However, immigrating to Canada made my chances of getting to really know someone almost impossible. This is part of the immigration process: you lose your circle of friends and acquaintances and you need to build your community from scratch. Today, dating and marriage is made easier and more pragmatic with social media too. However, I also notice that we have never been as socially isolated as we are today. 

​Farida explores the gendered norms and expectations that restrict ordinary women in their dreams and ambitions even today. This is a topic that hugely fascinates me! The titular character, Farida, spends a lot of her time not cooking but rather reading. However, the book teases and tempts readers with mouth-watering descriptions of Tunisian food and dishes! Please share your favourite Tunisian dish with us and if you could include an easy-to-make (under an hour max) link to a recipe we would all be eternally grateful.

​My novel Farida came out in French in 2020, a few months before Covid. All the literary festivals and book fairs came to a stop. But that summer I received a small grant to help promote my book using social media, so my daughter, Barâa, helped me to host an event over ‘Facebook Live’ where I explained how to make “brik.” This is a famous appetizer in Tunisian cuisine, and it’s especially made during the month of Ramadan. This event was a huge success and many people loved it. It was also a lot of fun. Brik is mentioned in Farida and a recipe for it may be found here: Recipe.

I was struck by the chapters “Hijabization as Fashion” and “Hijabi Trends” in Gendered Islamophobia, where you speak about how your daughter and the next generation have a different relationship with the hijab than the one you had. You elaborated that social media has played a large part in this evolution. I’m curious about your use of social media. Do you have a screen time limit for yourself? Or are you a late-night doom-scroller?

​I think I struggle with social media as much as anyone else. Yes, I do have time limits. I am mostly on social media to “read” the news, but of course, I get distracted by other topics and I end up wasting time. I am not a late-night person so my time for social media is usually in the mornings or during the day. When I am very busy or when I travel, I rarely peek into it. 

In Farida, governments and dictatorships come and go. Gentrification and access to education change the lives of some characters but not all. It appears to me is that what stays constant is the core of who we are: our values, our convictions. Farida’s brother, Habib, is unable to save his sister because he sees himself solely and (limitedly?) as a poet. You certainly do not restrict yourself in the same manner. You are very firmly a writer and activist. Who is a writer and activist that you look up to and admire?

​I admire Naomi Klein. She is both and she honors both roles very well. Thinking and writing can take a lot of time, and for centuries we have envisioned our intellectuals living isolated lives in their ivory towers, away from the chaotic streets and scary places. I think today more than ever we need our thinkers to be out in the streets and on social media to show the path forward for everyone else.

Large chunks of Farida serve as an ode to literature and to the world of ideals and ideas. Farida is enraptured by what are considered the French classics, and an argument may be made that she is ‘ruined’ or ‘corrupted’ by them. You spent several years in Montreal. In all my years in Montreal, I only managed to slowly and laboriously read one book in French. Luckily, it was a great one: Verre Cassé by Alain Mabanckou. Share your favourite book in French that critiques and subverts the ‘master’s tools.'

​Bien sûr, Victor Hugo et Émile Zola! These are my favourites, with Les Misérables and Germinal, respectively, as epic examples of their books. 

Farida is written from the POV of multiple characters that surround Farida’s life. I love the ensemble cast of characters you have provided for us – they are of different ages and genders, and come from different linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Which one was your favourite to write?

​Without hesitation, Fatma. She is witty, creative and clever and was despised for all of these adjectives. She represents the many women of her time who weren’t sent to school, who were abused by the patriarchy, but who were strong enough to surmount their challenges. 

In Farida, the price Jouda pays for her freedom is her relationship with her daughter. Or is it? In any case, I am haunted by the very thought of this ‘trade.’ In the chapter titled ‘Privilege and Solidarity’ in Gendered Islamophobia, you speak about hiring other women as an inadequate and problematic way to make motherhood easier for the bourgeois woman. What new solutions do you see today for how women could achieve both financial independence and hands-on motherhood?

​Unfortunately, the economic system we live in doesn’t like motherhood. I think we remain a society that despises motherhood and continues to make it difficult. When my kids were younger, I always felt guilty for not doing enough for them. I was always caught in the dilemma: invest in my own career (and be taken seriously by the outside world) or sacrifice all my time and energy for my children. 

​Monia, you have given of your time so kindly and generously. Now we will move into the rapid rapid-fire section of our interview –

• Are you writing for the 8-year-old Monia? Or the 80-year-old Monia? Neither?
  • For the young Monia.
• What do you like most about yourself?
  • Being aware and conscious of my shortcomings, but this can be a curse too!
• Share with us a quote you love.
  • "Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world." Orhan Parnuk, a Turkish author whose writings I admire.
•  ​What is your zodiac sign.
  • Sagittarius.
•  ​Beach vacation or urban exploration?
  • Beach vacation.
•  ​Tina Turner or Céline Dion?
  • If I could only choose one then Céline Dion, but I greatly admire Tina Turner too.
•  ​If you could travel geographically in time, which time period and where would you plop yourself into?
  • The era of my grandmothers (1930s-1950s).
•  ​Coffee or mint tea?
  • Mint tea but only before 2pm, otherwise I won’t be able to sleep! I am very sensitive to caffeine.
•  ​What is the stupidest question you’ve been asked as an author (present interview graciously excluded)?
  • “Have you taken any creative writing classes?”
•  ​What can you share with us about your next writing project?
  • La sainte et le rêveur is a historical novel that is inspired by the fascinating life of Lella Sayda Al Manoubia, a woman, saint and religious scholar from the thirteenth century who lived in the present city of Tunis. Lella Sayda did pioneering work on social justice, feminism and political participation.  The novel focuses on a less-known aspect of her life: the role she played in freeing slaves from being sent to Sicily. I wanted to keep her legacy alive by introducing the story of Saad, a slave descendant, freed by Lella Sayda. Readers will meet Saad, who lives in Tunis at the eve of the First World War, and follow him through his struggles and challenges as he faces a city where slavery has been legally abolished but not erased from the minds, language and behaviour of the population.

​Monia, you are a legend and icon. Thank you so much for your time. Your efforts in the Canlit space and in Canadian politics have indelibly moved and improved us a society. Thank you for all that you do. We can’t wait to pick up what you write next!

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​Salma Hussain writes poetry and prose. Her fiction has recently appeared in The Humber Literary Review, The Temz Review, Queen’s Quarterly, The Ex-Puritan and Prism International. Her young adult novel, The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan, about a young girl’s immigration and menstruation journey, was published by Penguin Random House in 2022. It was selected for ALA’s Rise: A Feminist Book Project List and shortlisted for the Geoffrey Wilson Historical Fiction prize. A chapbook of her poems from Baseline Press released this summer 2025. You can find her on Instagram: @salma_h_writes.