Q&A with Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie is the author of eleven previous novels—Grimus, Midnight’s Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), Shame, The Satanic Verses, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fury, Shalimar the Clown, The Enchantress of Florence, and Luka and the Fire of Life—and one collection of short stories: East, West. He has also published four works of nonfiction—Joseph Anton, The Jaguar Smile, Imaginary Homelands, and Step Across This Line—and co-edited two anthologies, Mirrorwork and Best American Short Stories 2008. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature.

His newest book is Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, a spellbinding work of fiction that blends history, mythology, and a timeless love story.

In anticipation of the book, we were presented with an opportunity to ask Mr. Rushdie some questions about himself and his work.

You can read the full interview here, or after the jump below.

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Q & A with Zarqa Nawaz

Zarqa Nawaz, the name behind the hit television series Little Mosque on the Prairie, has recently released her memoir.

Entitled Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, the book tells the sometimes absurd, sometimes challenging, always funny stories of being Zarqa in a western society. From explaining to the plumber why the toilet must be within sitting arm's reach of the water tap (hint: it involves a watering can and a Muslim obsession with cleanliness "down there") to urging the electrician to place an eye-height electrical socket for her father-in-law's epilepsy-inducing light-up picture of the Kaaba, Zarqa paints a hilarious portrait of growing up in a household where, according to her father, the Quran says it's okay to eat at McDonald's -- but only if you order the McFish.

In anticipation of Laughing All the Way to the Mosque's release, we asked Ms. Nawaz a few questions about her book and about her writing in general.

You can find the full Q & A with her right here.

And you can find the hilarious new book inside of our stores, available in the Canadian Biography and New Non-Fiction sections.

Sjón on Writers & Company

Icelandic novelist, poet, and lyricist Sjón is gaining plenty of worldwide attention lately. Known most notably here in Canada for his novels The Blue Fox, From the Mouth of the Whale, and the more recent The Whispering Muse, Sjón was interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel on her CBC radio show, Writers & Company, over the weekend.

You can listen to the interview online by clicking here.

Tots to Teens: Reading at McNally Robinson Booksellers

Yesterday, one of our Winnipeg booksellers, Josef, was interviewed by CTV News about some of the children and teen books available in our stores. And as always, Josef provided some amazing insights into our literature for young people.

You can watch the video on CTV's video website.

If you have any questions about the material covered in the video, contact us!