"I felt connected to the street girls, as if our silent smiles spoke a thousand words between us."

Sometimes painful and at other times shocking, the stories in On the Edge of Being are still hopeful. The world that Afghan women inhabit in this memoir illuminates the split between body and voice — a split that has wrought a devastating impact on the women of Afghanistan.

The daughter of a progressive Afghan governor, Sharifa Sharif observes from an early age that life for women — both within and beyond the walls of their homes — is neither simple nor fair. As she navigates the rocky terrain of what it means to be a woman in Afghan society, Sharif candidly connects her own troubling experiences with those of girls and women around her: those who appeal to her father for justice, those who work as servants in her friends' homes, and those of her own mother, whose inability to alter the restrictions in her own life evokes both anger and empathy.

From her childhood travels through the poorest provinces in Afghanistan to life as a schoolteacher and an immigrant student in North America, Sharifa strives to define her identity through her experiences of marginality — and learns to reclaim her body and herself.

First published in 2011, On the Edge of Being is more pertinent than ever as girls in Afghanistan continue to survive against all odds. In her new prologue, Sharifa reminds her readers that the people of Afghanistan are paying the price — no matter which government, ideology, or side is at fault.

Dr. Sharifa Sharif was born and raised in Afghanistan, where she and her family lived in many urban and rural areas. Dr. Sharif studied Pashto Literature at the University of Kabul and, later, Comparative Literature at University of Illinois, in the United States, where she became immersed in issues of feminism, justice and freedom. Since then, she has become a dual Afghan-Canadian citizen and has worked as a writer and teacher at Seneca and Centennial College. She has also worked as a counselor for abused women, a cultural advisor, a radio host, and a politician. Living in the Greater Toronto Area since 1991, Dr. Sharif works as a community activist and cultural advisor on Afghanistan. As an author, Dr. Sharif continues to produce original work, and has recently published a collection of short stories in Pashto called Chaa w Chaa Weyel, meaning "So and So was Saying," a line from a regional song in Pashto. This collection has been well received by young women inside the country and will launch online in September 2023. She is currently working on another book of short stories in English which mostly tells stories of women’s resilience and defying migration inside the family and outside in a larger society, both in the country and in exile.

Sharifa Sharif's profile page

"Dr. Sharifa Sharif takes us on a journey of pain and resilience, inviting us into the beauty of Afghanistan, the violence that is a daily part of too many lives and the strength of those who have survived more than anyone should ever have to. Dr. Sharif is to be commended for her courage, her honesty and for continuing to put one foot in front of the other in a world that would have her and so many of her sisters go quietly away. This book reminds us that we can— and need to— do better." Deborah Ellis, feminist, peace activist, and award-winning author of The Breadwinner

"Sharif is a gifted storyteller, giving powerful firsthand accounts from the experience of women in remote rural provinces of Afghanistan. With both eloquence and humour, Sharif painstakingly recounts in her acute observations the complex, aggrieved and storied culture she was born into and still loves.” Dr. Lauryn Oates, Executive Director of Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan