Omar El Akkad Explained

Omar El Akkad
Birth Place:Cairo, Egypt
Occupation:Journalist, author

Omar El Akkad (born 1982) is an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist, whose novel What Strange Paradise was the winner of the 2021 Giller Prize.[1]

Early life and education

Omar El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Doha, Qatar.[2] When he was 16 years old, he moved to Canada, completing high school in Montreal and university at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He has a computer science degree.[3]

Career

For ten years he was a staff reporter for The Globe and Mail, where he covered the war in Afghanistan, military trials at Guantanamo Bay and the Arab Spring in Egypt. He was most recently a correspondent for the western United States, where he covered Black Lives Matter.[4]

His first novel, American War, was published in 2017.[5] [6] It received positive reviews from critics; The New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani compared it favourably to Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Philip Roth's novel The Plot Against America. She wrote that "melodramatic" dialogue could be forgiven by the use of details that makes the fictional future "seem alarmingly real".[7] The Globe and Mail called it "a masterful debut."[8] The novel was named a shortlisted finalist for the 2017 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize,[9] and for the 2018 amazon.ca First Novel Award, and won a Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.[10]

In November 2019 BBC News listed American War on a list of the 100 most influential novels.

In 2021, El Akkad appeared on the podcast Storybound.[11]

On November 8, 2021, El Akkad won the Giller Prize for What Strange Paradise.[12] The novel was selected for the 2022 edition of Canada Reads. It was defended by Tareq Hadhad.[13] The book follows migration and what is at the core of the global crisis. It follows Amir, a Syrian boy who is the only survivor of a migrant boat sinking.[14]

In 2022, Omar El Akkad appeared on the podcast, The Literary City with Ramjee Chandran to talk about "What Strange Paradise."

Awards

Personal life

He lives with his wife and daughter in Portland, Oregon.[18]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Adina Bresge, "Omar El Akkad wins $100K Giller Prize for 'What Strange Paradise'" . CTV News, November 8, 2021.
  2. Web site: Omar El Akkad Penguin Random House. www.penguinrandomhouse.com. en-US. 2017-07-14. 2018-04-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20180428200056/https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2140267/omar-el-akkad. live.
  3. News: Omar El Akkad - Interview. BookPage.com. 2017-07-14. en. 2019-02-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015452/https://bookpage.com/interviews/21147-omar-el-akkad. live.
  4. News: A Conversation with Omar El Akkad, Author, American War - Unbound Worlds. 2017-05-19. Unbound Worlds. 2017-07-14. en-US. 2018-07-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20180717034057/http://www.unboundworlds.com/2017/05/conversation-omar-el-akkad-author-american-war/. live.
  5. News: A Haunting Debut Looks Ahead to a Second American Civil War. Kakutani. Michiko. The New York Times. 27 March 2017. 2017-04-18. 2019-09-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20190915140448/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/books/review-american-war-omar-el-akkad.html. live.
  6. Web site: 'American War' Explores The Universality Of Revenge. Garcia-Navarro. Lulu. NPR.org. 2017-04-16. 2019-10-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20191029181431/https://www.npr.org/2017/04/02/522194002/american-war-explores-the-universality-of-revenge. live.
  7. News: A Haunting Debut Looks Ahead to a Second American Civil War. Kakutani. Michiko. 2017-03-27. The New York Times. 2017-07-02. en-US. 0362-4331. 2019-09-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20190915140448/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/books/review-american-war-omar-el-akkad.html. live.
  8. News: Omar El Akkad's American War, reviewed: A masterful debut. 2017-03-31. The Globe and Mail. 2017-09-02. en-GB. 2019-11-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20191108221700/https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/omar-el-akkads-american-war-reviewed-a-masterful-debut/article34516221/. live.
  9. http://www.cbc.ca/books/david-chariandy-leanne-betasamosake-simpson-among-finalists-for-50k-rogers-writers-trust-fiction-prize-1.4308433 "David Chariandy, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson among finalists for $50K Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize"
  10. http://www.cbc.ca/books/sharon-bala-omar-el-akkad-among-finalists-for-40k-amazon-ca-first-novel-award-1.4638167 "Sharon Bala, Omar El Akkad among finalists for $40K Amazon.ca First Novel Award"
  11. Web site: Announcing Season 4 of the Storybound Podcast . 4 June 2021 . June 10, 2021 . 10 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210610173140/https://lithub.com/announcing-season-4-of-the-storybound-podcast/ . live .
  12. Web site: Omar El Akkad wins $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize for novel What Strange Paradise . November 10, 2021 . November 10, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211110000236/https://www.cbc.ca/books/omar-el-akkad-wins-100k-scotiabank-giller-prize-for-novel-what-strange-paradise-1.6238518 . live .
  13. https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/meet-the-canada-reads-2022-contenders-1.6326413 "Meet the Canada Reads 2022 contenders"
  14. Web site: Iglesias . Gabino . 'What Strange Paradise' Focuses On The Human Stories At The Heart Of A Crisis . . July 25, 2021 . May 28, 2024 . November 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211128044603/https://www.npr.org/2021/07/25/1019857793/what-strange-paradise-focuses-on-the-human-stories-at-the-heart-of-a-crisis . live .
  15. Web site: What Strange Paradise . 2023-07-11 . Omarelakkad . en . 2023-07-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230711060127/https://www.omarelakkad.com/ . live .
  16. Web site: What Strange Paradise . 2023-07-11 . Omarelakkad . en . 2023-07-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230711060127/https://www.omarelakkad.com/ . live .
  17. Web site: What Strange Paradise . 2023-07-11 . Omarelakkad . en . 2023-07-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230711060127/https://www.omarelakkad.com/ . live .
  18. Web site: Omar El Akkad Eden Mills Writers' Festival. Eden Mills Writers' Festival. 2018-06-27. 2018-09-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20180926223304/http://edenmillswritersfestival.ca/authors/authors-for-adults/omar-el-akkad/. live.

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