Washes, Prays

Coocoo is a young immigrant woman in Toronto. Her faith is worn threadbare after years of bargaining with God to end her loneliness and receiving no answer. Then she meets her mirror-image; Muhammad is a professor and father of two. He's also married.

Heartbreaking and hilarious, this verse-novel chronicles Coocoo's spiraling descent: the transformation of her love into something at first desperate and obsessive, then finally cringing and animal, utterly without grace. Her best friend, Nouf, remains by her side throughout, and together they face the growing contradictions of Coocoo's life. What does it mean to pray while giving your body to a man who cannot keep it? How long can a homeless love survive on the streets? These are some of the questions this verse-novel swishes around in its mouth. (From McClelland & Stewart)

Noor Nagais aCanadian-Egyptian writer.She won the 2017 Bronwen Wallace Awardfor her poemThe Mistress and the Ping.She also wonthe Disquiet Fiction Prize in 2019.Her debut novelAmerican Girl and Boy from Shobrakheitis forthcomingfall 2021.

• 29 works of Canadian poetry to watch for in spring 2020
• The CBC Books Writers to Watch 2020 list
• The best Canadian poetry of 2020
• Noor Naga on moral decisions, millennial Muslims and modern love

Interviews with Noor Naga

The Sunday Edition38:29Noor Naga on why mistresses should be Muslim too

In her new novel-in-verse Washes, Prays, Noor Naga proposes there is space in CanLit between the Muslim terrorist and saint, for a Muslim mistress. Her book tells the story of a young Muslim woman in Toronto who has an affair with a married man, then faces a spiritual crisis. It's also an exploration of loneliness, longing, faith, and the role of technology in modern love.