By Karen Romeo
A few years ago, writer Emil Sher asked author Omar El Akkad, “What three words would you use to describe what makes a great story great?”
Akkad’s answer, “Read it, changed.”
This intriguing question was posed to Akkad in the CBC Books Magic 8 Q&A in 2017, just after he was placed on the shortlist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Since then, Akkad has steadily risen in the literary world, winning the esteemed 2021 ScotiaBank Giller Prize last November.
“What Strange Paradise” is Akkad’s award-winning new novel, which he describes as “an inverted fairy tale.” He was thinking about the famous story of Peter Pan when he wrote a tale of two children. Amir is a Syrian boy who is shipwrecked on an unnamed Greek island, and Vanna is a local teenage girl who saves him. It tells the story of global refugees through the eyes of children.
Akkad was born in Egypt, lived as a child in Qatar, and moved to Canada at age 16. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in Portland, Oregon. He is able to bring this remarkably realistic worldview from his own unique background and travel to his “inverted fairy tale” and create his award-winning book “What Strange Paradise.”
Omar El Akkad will be speaking in conversation with Hal Wake at San Miguel Literary Sala’s Distinguished Speaker Series on February 13, at 6:00 pm. This wide-ranging conversation will undoubtedly cover a number of the world’s hotspots that Akkad has spent time writing about. When writer Kate Cayley asked Akkad about his own personal viewpoint of the world with her question “Are you hopeful?” his answer was fascinating and frank. “Yeah,” he replied, “but sometimes my writing isn’t.”
In addition to this intriguing conversation, the San Miguel Literary Sala offers in-person and online writers’ workshops and master classes every month. For more information and to register, go to sanmiguelliterarysala.org. Pay-what-you-wish scale for the Distinguished Speaker Series from US$10 to $50.
