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Talks@Willoughby presents Arwa El Masri

Finished

12.30pm

Free

Bookings & Enquiries: contact Chatswood Library

This event has now passed

Tea with Arwa: One woman’s story of faith, family and finding a home in Australia

12:30pm, Thursday 1 March 2012
Chatswood Library on The Concourse
409 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood
FREE event

Arwa El Masri will speak about growing up as a young Muslim woman in Australia in her deeply personal memoir, Tea with Arwa, at Willoughby City Library’s Talks@ Willoughby program, 12.30pm, Thursday 1 March, Chatswood Library on The Concourse, Victoria Avenue, Chatswood.

Born in Saudi Arabia to Palestinian migrants, Arwa’s family immigrated to Australia shortly before her ninth birthday. Settling into a country she could finally call home, Arwa struggled to reconcile her faith with her new life in a Western culture but soon considered herself a ‘regular Aussie girl’, making friends, sun baking, listening to John Farnham music and eating vegemite!

After marrying her soulmate, legendary Rugby League player Hazem El Mazri, at twenty three years old, Arwa’s new sense of family and belonging lead her to follow her spiritual beliefs and wear the hijab. Shocked at the treatment she received after wearing it in public, Arwa found many people assumed she did not speak English or that her husband had told her what to wear.

Demystifying the veil, Tea with Arwa demonstrates that regardless of religion or race, everyone shares a common humanity to achieve the same things in life, such as family, friends and a sense of belonging.

Lindfield Bookshop will provide copies of the book for purchase at the talk. Bookings are essential for Talks@Willoughby, visit willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Library/ or phone 9777 7900.

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