Join CBC host and acclaimed comedian Ali Hassan as he shares the perfect blend of humour and insight in his début memoir. Hassan explores how he learned to walk the line of embracing his heritage while following his passions and being true to himself, and his journey in becoming a “cultural Muslim.”

Online events will be live streamed from our Youtube channel.

Type: Non-fiction, In Conversation

Moderator: Taslim Jaffer

Readers: Ali Hassan, Is There Bacon in Heaven? (Simon & Schuster)

About The Moderator

Taslim Jaffer is a writer, editor and writing instructor with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. She is the winner of the 2022 Creative Nonfiction Collective/Humber Literary Review contest for memoir and a 2021 recipient of a Silver Canadian Online Publishing award for journalism. Her bylines can be found in Maclean’s, CBC, Peace Arch News, WestCoast Families and more. Taslim is currently working on her memoir-in-essays as a first-generation Canadian, with themes of culture, identity and home. She is also co-editor of the forthcoming anthology, Back Where I Came From (Book*hug Press, 2024) and sits on the Board of Directors for Word Vancouver and The Creative Nonfiction Collective Society.

About The Reader

Ali Hassan is a stand-up comedian, actor, and professional chef. He is the host of CBC’s Canada Reads as well as Laugh Out Loud. He is also a frequent guest host of q, CBC’s premier national arts and entertainment show. His comedy has been performed at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and Toronto’s JFL42. He is a Canadian Comedy Awards nominee, and his solo show, Muslim, Interrupted, was performed at the world’s largest comedy festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has appeared in three award-winning films, Breakaway, French Immersion, and as the memorable Lebanese Uncle Stevie in the hockey hit Goon, in addition to other film and TV roles, most recently CBC’s Run the Burbs. He lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his family. Follow him on Twitter @StandUpAli and find him at StandUpAli.com.