Laila Lalami's Blog, page 12
November 3, 2015
November 11, 2015
7:00 PM
Lannan Literary Event
Aminatta Forna with Laila Lalami
Lensic Performing Arts Center
211 West San Francisco Street
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Hurston/Wright Award
I’m thrilled to report that The Moor’s Account has won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in fiction. I was not expecting the novel to take the prize—there were so many great books in consideration—but it was a special treat to see it being recognized at the Washington, DC gala. The other two finalists were Tiphanie Yanique (picture above, left) and Roxane Gay.
In other news, I had an new essay on the theme of ‘unforgettable meals’ in The New York Times Magazine this week. Here’s how it starts:
Moha, who wanted to be our guide, said it was an easy hike to the Bridge of God. But he looked about 15 and spoke in a timid voice that made me doubt how easy it would really be. We were at the trailhead in Akchour, a small village nestled in the Rif Mountains in northern Morocco. ‘‘How long will it take?’’ my daughter asked.I translated her question into Arabic for Moha. ‘‘It depends how fast we walk,’’ he replied. ‘‘With small children, three or four hours.’’ The adults in our party were eager to do the hike; the children, not so much. Something is always lost in translation, but as Salman Rushdie once put it, something can also be gained. ‘‘Only a couple of hours,’’ I said in English.
You can read the rest here.
I’ll be closing my fall tour with an event in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I’ll be in conversation with the novelist Aminatta Forna for the Lannan Foundation. Tickets for the event are available here.
(Photo credit: Don Baker / Hurston Wright Foundation.)
November 1, 2015
December 15, 2015
7:00 PM
Molly Crabapple with Laila Lalami
The Last Bookstore
435 S. Spring St
Los Angeles, California
October 29, 2015
October 29, 2015
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Arab American Book Awards
Arab American Museum
13624 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, Michigan
October 25, 2015
January 24, 2016
TIME TBA
Panel: Religion and Freedom of Expression
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
October 22, 2015
October 22, 2015
6:30 PM
Hurston Wright Legacy Award Reading
Busboys and Poets
2021 14th St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
October 20, 2015
Three Ts.
What a busy couple of weeks! I’ve been traveling, talking, and teaching almost nonstop. I’m enjoying it tremendously, but I do long for the end of the year, when things will quiet down a bit. In the meantime, I wanted to share my review of a new graphic memoir by Riad Sattouf, a former cartoonist for Charlie Hebdo. Here’s how it closes:
Already a success in France, “The Arab of the Future” will do little to complicate most people’s perceptions of Libya or Syria. Life in both countries seems like a living hell, with no moments of relief or pleasure. But this book also has occasional flashes of beauty. When Abdel-Razak comes across a mulberry tree in Tripoli, the taste of its fruit, like that of Proust’s fabled madeleine, takes him back to the carefree days of his childhood, days when the future was still full of possibility.
You can read the full review in the New York Times Book Review. Let’s see, what else? I will be on the fiction faculty at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Middlebury, Vermont, next August. Register early! I am judging the PEN/Bellwether Prize, with Kathy Pories and Brando Skyhorse. Rules and eligibility are posted here. And I found out that I’ve been included in a list of the world’s 500 Most influential Muslims. I’ll raise a glass to that!
Photo credit: From The Arab of the Future via The New York Times.
October 18, 2015
October 17, 2015
October 2, 2015
Leaving Tangier
My review of Mathias Énard’s novel Street of Thieves appeared in The Guardian last week. Here’s how it opens:
Tangier, Mathias Énard writes in Street of Thieves, is famous “chiefly for the people who leave it”. Take, for example, the explorer Ibn Battutah. He left Tangier in 1325 and travelled through much of Africa, the Middle East, eastern Europe and Asia. When he finally returned home, 30 years later, he wrote Rihla, an account of his adventures and one of the most important narratives we have of life in the 14th century.Lakhdar, this novel’s 18-year-old narrator, will also leave home and write about it. Though his journeys are limited to Morocco, Tunisia and Spain, they provide a glimpse into the tremors of the Arab spring, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, and the indignados movement in Spain. These subjects may seem ripped from the headlines, but they are not unusual for Énard, a French novelist whose work often focuses on war and political conflict.
You can read the rest here. Last week, I also spoke to NPR’s Colin Dwyer about book blurbs and why they persist. Take a look.
Photo: Bruno d’Amicis for The Guardian.
