Samina Ali: Pieces You'll Never Get Back

Schedule

Tue Apr 08 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

The Strand | New York, NY

Advertisement
Join us for an in-person event with notable writer Samina Ali for a discussion of her new memoir Pieces You'll Never Get Back.
About this Event

Join us for an in-person event with notable writer Samina Ali for a discussion of her new memoir Pieces You'll Never Get Back. This event will be hosted at The Strand at Columbus Ave at 450 Columbus Ave.


Can’t make the event?


ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our events team at [email protected] by 3/25 to request.

For further information on accessibility in this space, or to make a request, please contact .

--------------------------------------------------------------------

A life-altering neurological disorder. A traumatic birth. An unlikely survival.

Pieces You'll Never Get Back is a harrowing and redemptive memoir, in which a new mother must reconstruct her shattered mind, her relationship to her religious upbringing, and her life's purpose

At 29, as a young writer working on her first novel, Samina Ali nearly died giving birth to her son. Miraculously, she survived the unchecked eclampsia that had endangered her pregnancy, instead sustaining major brain injury and falling into a coma as she gave birth. When she woke up, only her deepest memories were intact. Her husband was a stranger to her, she didn’t remember having a baby, and any language other than her native Urdu was foreign. Medical consensus was she would never recover—much less write—again.  

Advised to think of her brain as a shattered puzzle, Ali began the long and difficult journey of piecing herself back together: learning to walk, speak, and accomplish basic human tasks alongside her newborn. She attempted to reckon with her past identity as a writer and a wife, and her new identity as a mother. Despite her miraculous survival, the disconnect between the old and the new self was devastating. It would be three years before she felt remotely normal, and seven before she was mended and could fully connect with her son. 

Ali pairs the story of her “death” and recovery with the parallel narrative of her relationship to her Islamic upbringing and her fluctuating connection to her faith, incorporating meditations on religious narratives of death, the afterlife, resurrection, and reincarnation. Both deeply personal and steeped in religious thought, Pieces You'll Never Get Back is a uniquely propulsive, searching, and ultimately, inspiring work of memoir.


Event Photos

Photo credit: ZAKD

Samina Ali is the author of Madras on Rainy Days, which won the French Prix Premier Roman Etranger Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in Fiction. She is also a recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. She is a public speaker, and her Tedx talk, “What the Qur’an Really Says About the Hijab,” currently has over 8 million views. Her writing has been featured in various outlets, from national NPR to The Economist.

Advertisement

Where is it happening?

The Strand, 450 Columbus Avenue, New York, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

USD 0.00 to USD 33.35

The Strand Book Store

Host or Publisher The Strand Book Store

It's more fun with friends. Share with friends

Discover More Events in New York

Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 06:30 pm Kayla E. presents Precious Rubbish, feat. Heidi MacDonald

P&T Knitwear Books & Podcasts

ART LITERARY-ART
Finding Value: Jared Della Valle, CEO, and AJ Pires, President of Alloy
Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 06:30 pm Finding Value: Jared Della Valle, CEO, and AJ Pires, President of Alloy

Cornell University, Gensler Family AAP NYC Center

Drawing from Film with Catherine Goodman
Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 06:30 pm Drawing from Film with Catherine Goodman

Hauser & Wirth

ART FINE-ARTS
Beowulf Boritt: Transforming Space Over Time \u2014 Design for the Stage
Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 06:30 pm Beowulf Boritt: Transforming Space Over Time — Design for the Stage

The Cooper Union, Room 315F

ART MUSIC
NYC: Gymshark Conditioning Club
Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 07:15 pm NYC: Gymshark Conditioning Club

4 W 14th St

WORKSHOPS
Boston Celtics at New York Knicks Tickets
Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 Boston Celtics at New York Knicks Tickets

Madison Square Garden

TRIPS-ADVENTURES
Calum Graham in Brooklyn
Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 07:30 pm Calum Graham in Brooklyn

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church

New York | Anne Queff\u00e9lec , Piano Solo.
Tue, 08 Apr, 2025 at 07:30 pm New York | Anne Queffélec , Piano Solo.

Consulate General of France

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Asian Vegetarian Food & Culture Tour\u2122 $79 (w\/ Dim Sum) - Small Group
Fri, 05 Dec, 2014 at 02:45 pm Asian Vegetarian Food & Culture Tour™ $79 (w/ Dim Sum) - Small Group

Chinatown Tourism Kiosk at a traffic island across street from

FOOD-DRINKS ART
Ultimate New York Food & Culture Tour\u2122 in the Village  $73.99 - Small Group
Mon, 08 Dec, 2014 at 02:45 pm Ultimate New York Food & Culture Tour™ in the Village $73.99 - Small Group

In front of Kryolan City New York

FOOD-DRINKS ART
Hamilton and Washington New York City Walking Tour
Sun, 28 Jan, 2018 at 12:00 pm Hamilton and Washington New York City Walking Tour

Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

PARTIES ENTERTAINMENT
NYC - MILK
Mon, 02 Jul, 2018 at 09:30 am NYC - MILK

Stumptown NYC Training Lab

WORKSHOPS ART
BEST OF BROOKLYN WALKING TOUR-Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO, & Brooklyn Heights
Fri, 26 Oct, 2018 at 12:00 pm BEST OF BROOKLYN WALKING TOUR-Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO, & Brooklyn Heights

Tweed Courthouse

ENTERTAINMENT PARTIES
COMEDY CAMP for KIDS & TEENS Times Square NYC
Mon, 08 Jul, 2019 at 09:30 am COMEDY CAMP for KIDS & TEENS Times Square NYC

Broadway Comedy Club

COMEDY WORKSHOPS
In-Person Class: Homemade Pizza Party (NYC)
Wed, 03 Mar, 2021 at 06:30 pm In-Person Class: Homemade Pizza Party (NYC)

The Breakfast Room @ Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott New York Manhattan/Times Square South

WORKSHOPS PARTIES
Entrepreneurship Coaching Session - New York
Tue, 16 Mar, 2021 at 07:00 pm Entrepreneurship Coaching Session - New York

Phone Consultation

BUSINESS ART
Haunted Halloween Yacht Party Cruise
Sun, 25 Apr, 2021 at 06:00 pm Haunted Halloween Yacht Party Cruise

Skyport Marina - Jewel Yacht

PARTIES ENTERTAINMENT
Free Drinks + Everyone No Cover  At Certified Saturdays Katra nyc
Sat, 05 Jun, 2021 at 11:00 pm Free Drinks + Everyone No Cover At Certified Saturdays Katra nyc

Katra

ENTERTAINMENT DANCE
NYC Modern Calligraphy Class for Beginners
Fri, 22 Oct, 2021 at 04:00 pm NYC Modern Calligraphy Class for Beginners

517 Lexington Ave

ART WORKSHOPS
Acting - NYC - Virtual Free Trial Class
Fri, 03 Dec, 2021 at 06:00 pm Acting - NYC - Virtual Free Trial Class

NYC

ART THEATRE

What's Happening Next in New York?

Discover New York Events