Authors to Check Out At The Ottawa International Writers Festival

Friday, April 27: Imagining Truths with Omar El Akkad Cherie Dimaline and Timothy Taylor

Omar El Akkad is an Egyptian Canadian journalist and novelist. In a ten-year career as a reporter, he covered stories across the planet — from the war in Afghanistan to the military trials in Guantanamo Bay, the Arab Spring revolutions in the Middle East and the protests in Ferguson, Missouri. 

Omar is a recipient of the National Newspaper Award for investigative reporting for his coverage of the “Toronto 18” terrorism arrests. He has also won the Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize for young Canadian journalists, and has been nominated for several National Magazine Awards. He is a graduate of Queen's University.

On April 27, he will be discussing his novel, American War, "a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself." Set in 2074 America, we see Americans going through many of the natural and man-made disasters that are currently being experiences by people in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Visit Omar El Akkad's website here

Follow Omar El Akkad on Twitter here

Saturday, April 28: Borders and Belonging with Djamila Ibrahim, Arif Anwar and Sharon Bala

Djamila Ibrahim was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and moved to Canada in 1990 and grew up in Ottawa.

On April 28, she will discuss her short story collection 'Things are Good Now." "Set in East Africa, the Middle East, Canada, and the U.S., the stories in Djamila Ibrahim’s Things Are Good Now examine the weight of the migrant experience on the human psyche. In these pages, women, men, and children who’ve crossed continents in search of a better life find themselves struggling with the chaos of displacement and the religious and cultural clashes they face in their new homes. The collection is about remorse and the power of memory, about the hardships of a post-9/11 reality that labels many as suspicious or dangerous because of their names or skin colour alone, but it’s also about hope and friendship and the intricacies of human relationships." (Source OIWF)

Follow Djamila Ibrahim on Twitter here

Arif Anwar is a Banglaeshi Canadian novelist. Hewas born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, just miles from the Bay of Bengal. He has worked on issues of poverty alleviation for BRAC, one of the world’s largest non-governmental organizations, and on public health for UNICEF Myanmar. Arif has a PhD in Education from the University of Toronto.

On April 28, he will be dicussing his novel, 'The Storm'. "The Storm seamlessly interweaves five love stories that, together, chronicle sixty years of Bangladeshi history." (Source: OIWF)

Visit Arif Anwar's website here

Follow Arif Anwar on Twitter here

Monday, April 30 Race, Repression and Resilience with Robyn Maynard and Chelene Knight

Robyn Maynard is an author, community organizer and educator based in Montréal. On April 28, she will be discussing her book 'Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present'. For those interested in gaining a better understanding of the history and current realities of anti-Black racism in Ottawa and Canada, this is an important book to read and author to follow.

Follow Robyn Maynard on Twitter here

To learn about all of the events that are part of the Ottawa International Writers Festival's "A Diversity of Perspectives", click here