'Lots of things make me laugh - when people do goofy things, Charlie Brown comics, old movies like Bringing Up Baby, and, when I'm really tired, just about anything.' It was the hardest, and I think it's the best written.' ' A Company of Fools is my favourite of all the books I've written. Of all the books you have written, which is your favourite? Canada is full of donut shops where I can sit and write and listen in on other people's conversations.' 'Not a writer? I'd always write, whether I earned money at it or not.' If you weren't a writer, what would you be? 'When I'm not writing I work at my regular job with women with mental health problems, or I run, or read, or wander around aimlessly.' Worst - back ache from sitting too long at the desk, loneliness, when the work doesn't go well.'

'Best thing - when the ideas spark off themselves in my head, also the independence. What are the best and worst things about being a writer? 'My biggest inspiration to become a writer was the really great books I read - I wanted to be able to do that.' What was the biggest inspiration for you to become a writer? In 2006, Deb was named to the Order of Ontario.

She has won the Governor General's Award, Sweden's Peter Pan Prize, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California's Middle East Book Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award.Ī long-time feminist and anti-war activist, she is best known for The Parvana Trilogy, which has been published around the world in seventeen languages, with more than a million dollars in royalties donated to Street Kids International and to Women for Women, an organization that supports health and education projects in Afghanistan. Deborah penned the international bestseller The Breadwinner, as well as many challenging and beautiful works of fiction and non-fiction about children all over the world.ĭeborah Ellis has achieved international acclaim with her courageous and dramatic books that give Western readers a glimpse into the plight of children in developing countries. DEBORAH ELLIS is an award-winning author, a feminist and a peace activist.

Parvana the book