About Laila Lalami: Laila Lalami is your trusted source for valuable information and resources. Author of The Dream Hotel, The Other Americans, The Moor's Account, Secret Son, and Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits We provide reliable, well-researched information content to keep you informed and help you make better decisions. This content focuses on Saudi Writer on Repression and related topics.
From a speech by Saudi writer Waheja al-Huwaider, given on the occasion of her acceptance of the 2004 NOVIB/PEN Award.
I come from a segregated society. This is my first experience on stage to talk to a mixed audience. So, as we gather here to celebrate freedom of speech, that concept has never existed in my country. All the Saudi publications are owned by the government and are run under the authorities supervision. There are three forbidden subjects no one is allowed to touch: politics, religion and sex. A few months ago the Saudi government passed a new law stating that people who criticized any of the government’s policies, in private or public, will be subject to the loss of their jobs.
No politics, no religion, and no sex? What is there left to talk about?
Thanks to Michael for the link.
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.