Media Advisory: Canada’s Largest Muslim-led Literary Festival returns to Toronto Sept 20-21 for its second year
TORONTO, Sept. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silk Road Literary Festival returns to Toronto September 20-21, for its second year celebrating literature, art, and ideas from North America’s leading Muslim and BIPOC voices. Tickets are now on sale for the two-day event at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts (27 Front Street E., Toronto) that will bring together writers, artists, and thinkers to explore storytelling as a vessel of memory, cultural celebration, transformation, and most importantly – The Stories That Make Us.
An All-festival Pass will get participants access to the full weekend of events, including author sessions, panel discussions, agent workshops, and live music and comedy performances. The festival promises to be an impactful, thought-provoking and unforgettable event.
Media are welcome to attend the festival weekend - please contact to arrange for interviews with organizers, speakers or performers.
About: The Silk Road Institute is a non-profit organisation programming and supporting Muslims in the arts for over ten years. Its goal is to platform, aid, and showcase the wealth of Muslim-identifying and Muslim-aligned artists in Canada. SRI runs Silk Road Theatre, North America’s first professional Muslim theatre company based in Montreal; Silk Road Academy, offering interactive courses with renowned artists; Silk Road Creative Arts Grants, supporting the next generation of Muslim artists; and Silk Road Literary Festival in Toronto, featuring some of the leading Muslim and BIPOC literary voices in North America.
SATURDAY SEPT 20, 2025
11:00am - “Beyond The Divide” A Discussion On Mosque Architecture And Cultural History
Author and Architecture professor Dr. Tammy Gaber
Moderated by with Silk Road Institute’s Mohamed Shaheen
12:15pm - The Necessity of Black-Muslim Experiences In Media and Entertainment
Comedian Hassan Phills
Moderated by Artist and Poet, Britta Badour
1:15pm - Creative Writing Workshop with Writer and Educator Furqan Mohamed
2:00pm - Stories of Belonging and Indigenous Identity
Author and Journalist Waubgeshig Rice
Moderated by writer and educator Furqan Mohamed
3:00pm - “My Name Is Not Harry”: A Discussion on Journalism and Portrayal of Muslims In The Media
Journalist, Author, and Massey College Senior Fellow Haroon Siddiqui
Moderated by Silk Road Institute’s Fareh Malik
4:00pm - “Detective Aunty”: Why Levity and Joy Is Needed in Muslim Stories
Best-selling novelist and playwright Uzma Jalaluddin
Moderated by Nabiha Chowdhury
5:00pm - Workshop with Transatlantic Agency’s Marilyn Biderman
6:00 PM - The Changing Landscape of Palestinian Representation
Author and Lawyer Saeed Teebi
Moderated by journalist Pacinthe Mattar
7:45pm - 9:00 pm
Musical Performance by Iraqi singer Tara Moneka and Diljah Band
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2025
10:00am - “In Exile”: The Stories That Make Us
Author and Journalist Sadiya Ansari
Moderated by Journalist Shireen Ahmed
11:15 - Malcolm X at 100: Marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Black Muslim Revolutionary Leader
Imam Yasin Dwyer
Moderated by Host Mark Strong
12:30 Creative Writing Workshop with poet and producer Sumia Juxun
1:30pm - Film Screening “36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime”
3:15pm - Combatting Islamophobia in Canada
Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby
Moderated by Journalist, Pacinthe Mattar
4pm - How Activism and Literature Unite
Novelist and Playwright Kagiso Lesego Molope
Moderated by Journalist and Writer, Philip Dwight Morgan
5:30 - Comedy Show
Hassan Phills, Hisham Kelati, and Moe Ismail
7:30pm - Closing Ceremony
Contact: Sana Saidi, Marketing & Comms Manager - sana@silkroadinstitute.ca
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