Samra Habib

CBC Books | | Posted: June 26, 2019 6:40 PM | Last Updated: July 24, 2020

Author of Canada Reads 2020 winner We Have Always Been Here, defended by Amanda Brugel

Image | Canada Reads 2020: Samra Habib

Caption: Samra Habib is the author of We Have Always Been Here. (CBC)

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Amanda Brugel won Canada Reads 2020 defending We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib.

Canada Reads 2020 took place July 20-23.

Meet the Canada Reads 2020 contenders

About Samra Habib

Samra Habib is a journalist and photographer based in Toronto whose work has been featured in publications like the New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post and Vanity Fair. Her first book, We Have Always Been Here, is a memoir about her childhood in Pakistan, arriving in Canada as a refugee and coming out as a proud queer Muslim woman. Habib is also the creator of the photo documentary project Just Me and Allah, in which she travelled the world to document the diverse stories of LGBTQIA Muslims.

CBC Books named Habib a writer to watch in 2019.

Why Samra Habib wrote We Have Always Been Here

"I saw a lot of benefit in being honest about my experience. I think there's a lack of queer Muslim narratives and one of the reasons could be that many fear persecution. It's not safe to be an openly queer Muslim person in a lot of different parts of the world, but I don't have to fear. I think I am relatively safe and I thought, 'OK, I can do this without risking a lot.'

It was while writing the book that I realized that, even when it came to embracing the fact that I'm queer, I was hiding for a long time. - Samra Habib

"It was while writing the book that I realized that, even when it came to embracing the fact that I'm queer, I was hiding for a long time. I was staying in these relationships with straight men or not sharing who I was with people who I was close to. I was still hiding, even though I didn't need to hide anymore. What I'm left with now is the question: What are some of the other things in my life I'm still hiding?"

Interviews with Samra Habib

Media Video | Canada Reads : Amanda Brugel on the importance of championing intersectional stories

Caption: In the Canada Reads 2020 finale, The Handmaid’s Tale star and her fellow panellists debate the necessity for the stories told in their contending books.