Laila Lalami
| Laila Lalami | |
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| File:Laila Lalami.jpg
Lalami Author Photo
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| Born | 1968 Rabat, Morocco |
| Occupation | Novelist, professor |
| Nationality | Morocco, United States |
| Genre | fiction |
| Notable works | The Moor's Account (2014), Secret Son (2009), Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (2005) |
| Website | |
| lailalalami |
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 Author photo, 2014 |
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Laila Lalami (Arabic: ليلى العلمي, born 1968) is a Moroccan-American novelist and essayist. After earning her undergraduate degree in Morocco, she received a fellowship to study in England, where she earned an MA in linguistics.
In 1992 Lalami moved to the United States, completing a PhD in linguistics at the University of Southern California. She began publishing her writing in 1996, and in 2015 was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her 2014 novel The Moor's Account, which received strong critical praise.
Contents
Early life
Lalami was born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, where she earned her BA in English from Mohammed V University. In 1990, she received a British Council fellowship to study in England and completed an MA in Linguistics at University College, London. After graduating, she returned to Morocco and worked briefly as a journalist and commentator. In 1992 she moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California, from which she graduated with a PhD in Linguistics.[1]
Career
Lalami began writing fiction and nonfiction in English in 1996.[2] Her literary criticism, cultural commentary, and opinion pieces have appeared in The Boston Globe, Boston Review, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere.
Her debut collection of stories, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, was released in the fall of 2005 and has since been translated into six languages. Her first novel, Secret Son (2009), was longlisted for the Orange Prize.[3][4]
Her 2014 novel The Moor's Account, based on the life of Estevanico, the first black explorer of America and one of four survivors of the 1527 Narváez expedition,[5] was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction[6] and the winner of an American Book Award.[7]
Lalami has received an Oregon Literary Arts grant and a Fulbright Fellowship. She was selected in 2009 by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.[8]
She is a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside.[9]
Recognition
For The Moor's Account
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Finalist, 2015[10]
- Man Booker Prize Longlist, 2015[11]
- American Book Award Winner, 2015[12]
- Arab American Book Award Winner, 2015[13]
- Hurston-Wright Legacy Award Winner, 2015[14]
- Langum Prizes, 2014 (Historical Fiction Prize)[15]
- The Wall Street Journal Best Books, 2014[16]
- NPR Best Books, 2014[17]
- The New York Times Notable Books, 2014[18]
- Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Books, 2014[19]
Other honors
- 2013, Elizabeth George Foundation "Women Authoring Change" Fellowship.[20]
- 2012, Lannan Foundation Residency Fellowship.[21]
- 2010, Orange Prize longlist for Secret Son.
- 2009, Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, Finalist.
- 2009, Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum.
- 2007, Fulbright Fellowship.
- 2003, Morocco-British Council Literary Prize for the Short Story.
- 1990, British Council Fellowship.
For Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
- 2006, Fletcher Pratt Fellowship in Fiction, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.
- 2006, Oregon Book Award, Finalist.
- 2006, Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship in Fiction.
- 2006, Caine Prize for African Writing, Finalist.
- 2006, John Gardner Fiction Prize, Finalist.
Bibliography
- Novels
- Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, NC, 2005. ISBN 1-56512-493-6)
- Secret Son (Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, NC, 2009. ISBN 1-56512-494-4)
- The Moor's Account (Pantheon Books, New York, NY, 2014. ISBN 978-0307911667)
- Short stories
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References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laila Lalami. |
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- ↑ Essay: Laila Lalami, World Literature Today website
- ↑ Interview, Writers & Books, 2008.
- ↑ Profile Thorne, John. The National
- ↑ "Levy, Mantel battle 7 debut novels for Orange prize"Reuters
- ↑ Review Los Angeles Times
- ↑ Pulitzer Citation, The Pulitzer Prizes
- ↑ American Book Awards press release American Book Awards.
- ↑ Press Release YGL Honorees 2009.
- ↑ UCR UCR Creative Writing
- ↑ Pulitzer Citation The Pulitzer Prizes
- ↑ Man Booker Prize Annoucement Man Booker Prize Longlist 2015.
- ↑ American Book Awards press release American Book Awards.
- ↑ Arab American Book Award Winners Arab American Book Awards.
- ↑ 2015 Hurston Wright Legacy Awards The Washington Post
- ↑ http://www.langumtrust.org/pastwin.html
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal Best Books, The Wall Street Journal
- ↑ NPR NPR
- ↑ The New York Times The New York Times
- ↑ Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews
- ↑ Hedgebrook Hedgbrook News
- ↑ Lannan Lannan Residency
- Pages with reference errors
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles containing Arabic-language text
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- 1968 births
- Moroccan women writers
- American women novelists
- Writers from Rabat
- Living people
- Moroccan literary critics
- American people of Moroccan descent
- University of Southern California alumni
- Alumni of University College London
- Muslim writers
- University of California, Riverside faculty
- WEF YGL honorees
- 21st-century American novelists
- 21st-century women writers
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners
- Women Pulitzer Prize winners
