Abdel-Rahman Munif passed away today. Here is the Washington Post obit and a more detailed article on Al-J. An oil engineer turned writer, Munif was stripped of his Saudi citizenship in 1963 for his critical stance on the government, and lived in Syria for the last fifteen years of his life. Here in the U.S. his best-known work is probably the Cities of Salt series. The books examine the effect of the discovery of oil on a small Arab village. Please do check him out, even if Amazon can’t seem to get the spelling of his name right.
(Via TEV)
Who is Laila Lalami
Laila Lalami is the award winning and best selling author of six books.
What books has Laila Lalami written?
Laila has written the novels, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, Secret Son, The Moor's Account, The Other Americans, and The Dream Hotel.
What awards has Laila Lalami won?
Laila Lalami has won the American Book Award, the Arab American Book Award, the Hurston-Write Legacy Award, a Guggenheim a Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship, and a British Council Fellowship. Her work has also been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Booker Prize, the Women's Prize, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award.