Presented in partnership with Library and Archives Canada and Writer's Fest.

Join us for the launch of Out of Darkness: Rumana Monzur's Journey through Betrayal, Tyranny and Abuse .

From the bestselling author of The Concubine’s Children and The Girl in the Picture, it is a gripping story of a domestic assault that shocked the world, of the exercise of power and political influence, and of the Bangladeshi woman whose irrepressible spirit found light in sudden darkness.

From the outside, Rumana seemed an unlikely victim of domestic abuse: married to a man of her own choosing and progressing in her career as a professor of international relations at Dhaka University. But in 2011, on return from graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, her husband attacked and blinded her in front of their young daughter. As Rumana's horrifying story garnered international headlines, and connections brought her to Vancouver in an attempt—ultimately futile—to restore her sight, her plight underscored the fact that there are no typical victims of intimate-partner violence.

Denise Chong goes behind the headlines to reveal the devolution of a love story into a tale of tyranny behind closed doors, and the pursuit of justice that proved all the more elusive during the rise of social media. Out of Darkness tells a globe-spanning narrative of loyalty, perseverance and a woman’s determination to face the future and rebuild a life with meaning.

Stories, rhymes and songs for babies and a parent or caregiver. 0-18 months. 30 min. Registration required.

A school readiness program for children 3–4 years old, who will be entering kindergarten in September 2024, and their adult co-learner.

Stories and child-centered learning stations with a focus on the foundational concepts of letter recognition, numeracy, colors, shapes, measurement, rhyming, and retelling.

Combine basic drawing strokes into easy-to-learn pattern combinations that inspire creativity, relaxation and meditation.