Omar El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt and grew up in Doha, Qatar until he moved to Canada with his family. He is an award-winning journalist and author who has traveled around the world to cover many of the most important news stories of the last decade. His reporting includes dispatches from the NATO-led war in Afghanistan, the military trials at Guantànamo Bay, the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt and the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri. He is a recipient of Canada’s National Newspaper Award for investigative reporting and the Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Young Canadian Journalists, as well as three National Magazine Award honorable mentions. His most recent work is American War, for which he won the Oregon Book Award for Fiction. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Visit him online at omarelakkad.com.

Upcoming Events
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Upcoming Events

Everybody Reads 2019: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (SOLD OUT)
March 14, 2019
In partnership with the Multnomah County Library and The Library Foundation, Literary…

Barry Lopez: Horizon Book Launch
March 19, 2019
Join Literary Arts for a book launch event for Horizon, the latest…

Cave Canem Fellows Reading: Off-site AWP event
March 27, 2019
Experience Cave Canem’s annual Off-Site Reading at AWP Portland, hosted by Literary…

WITS Alliance Reading: Off-site AWP event
March 29, 2019
The WITS Alliance hosts a happy hour and reading at Literary Arts.

VONA’s 20th Birthday reading: Off-site AWP event
March 29, 2019
VONA is celebrating 20 years of supporting writers of color. VONA, The…

2019 Oregon Book Awards Ceremony
April 22, 2019
Join Literary Arts’ annual celebration of the state’s most accomplished writers in…