Saadawi in Exile

There’s nothing terribly new in this Reuters piece about Egyptian writer Nawal El-Saadawi, but it’s still good to see her work get some attention.

Saadawi’s “The Fall of the Imam”, written in the 1980s, disappeared from Cairo book stores last year after the state-controlled al-Azhar mosque and university recommended it be banned. “They said this book is against Islam,” she said.

“The government and al-Azhar want to bring some writers and scapegoat them. Instead of thinking about the real problems we are living: poverty and invasions, the people will be distracted by Nawal El Saadawi who is against religion,” she said.

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.