Available to book
Build inclusive cultures with Zarqa Nawaz, speaker, author, and producer. Zarqa works with organizations to bridge cultural divides and challenge stereotypes through comedy, delivering Gemini Award-winning content broadcast in 60+ countries.
Zarqa Nawaz is a Canadian television creator, author, and filmmaker who bridges cultural divides through comedy and storytelling. Her work explores Muslim identity in the West with humor that connects across backgrounds and belief systems.
Zarqa created Little Mosque on the Prairie, the CBC comedy series that premiered in 2007 to the network's highest ratings in two decades. The show won a Gemini Award and international recognition at the Roma Fiction Fest, now broadcasting in over 60 countries. Her bestselling memoir, Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour and named Chatelaine Magazine's Book Club Pick. She has sold comedy pilots to ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox Studios.
Zarqa helps organizations understand how storytelling can challenge stereotypes and build connection in divided times. Her experience creating content that resonates globally while addressing sensitive topics demonstrates how humor can open dialogue without diminishing serious issues. She shows leaders how to communicate across cultural differences and create inclusive environments where diverse perspectives strengthen rather than fragment communities.
Audiences learn practical approaches to interfaith understanding, discover how comedy can address difficult subjects effectively, and gain insight into creating media that represents communities authentically. Zarqa provides concrete examples of turning personal experience into universal stories that educate while entertaining.
Book Zarqa to inspire fresh thinking about diversity, representation, and the power of laughter to unite.
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frequently asked questions
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Email zarqa.nawaz@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Zarqa's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Zarqa Nawaz draws on her own experience as a Muslim woman in the West to construct personal narratives that function as case studies in cross-cultural communication, using her work in television and memoir writing as concrete reference points throughout her sessions.
Zarqa Nawaz speaks on Muslim identity in the West, storytelling as a tool for challenging stereotypes, interfaith understanding, and communicating across cultural difference. She created Little Mosque on the Prairie, the CBC comedy series that premiered in 2007 to the network's highest ratings in two decades, won a Gemini Award, and now broadcasts in over 60 countries.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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