Nazanine Hozar’s novel, The Small Ones, has been longlisted for the 2026 Giller Prize.

NAZANINE HOZAR was born in Tehran, Iran, before coming to Canada as a child. Her debut novel, Aria, is an award-nominated bestseller that was published to international acclaim. The Small Ones is her second novel. Nazanine Hozar lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

When did you first come up with the idea for your book?

About 7-8 years ago, just as I was about to publish my first novel. When I was a child in Iran, in the early 1980s, there was often propaganda footage on TV of these young boys who were conscripted as soldiers. We’d see images of them all the time. I was at once fascinated and horrified by their predicament. They weren’t that much older than me. I couldn’t wrap my head around how or why they were out there fighting, yet at the same time it all felt rather normal, because war, martyrdom, violence, was so much in the air.

Which authors or books inspired your book?

Kurt Vonnnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, a bit—just the anti-war-ness of it. I was in many ways inspired by cinema. The Russian film Come and See was a big inspiration, as was the Macedonian movie Before the Rain. Both are deeply moving anti-war films.

What advice would you have for someone struggling to make time to write?

It’s very hard. Life can be a struggle—between working to make a living and giving quality time to family and friends. But a little bit of time carved out each day can go a long way. Every time I start a novel, I simply aim to write 500 words a day, even if they’re bad words. Then, several weeks or months into that process, I try to increase the word count. Eventually you have enough words. Eventually you’ll get there.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Not a writer per se, but a storyteller. I would say I knew at about age four or five. It was a profound, innate knowing. Then I wanted to write plays, and then movie scripts. It wasn’t until I was 29 that I realized I should be writing novels, that my brain worked well with that form.

Who’s your favourite character in your longlisted book and why?

Very hard to pick a favourite from characters you’ve created and loved. But if I had to pick one, I’d say it’s Clay. He’s a kind of supernatural being, like something from a fable, which in many ways this novel is. He’s otherworldly and the heart of the novel rests with him. His heart, in fact, plays a key role in the story, both figuratively and literally.

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