He also won the Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Young Canadian Journalists, and has been nominated for several (Canadian) National Magazine Awards. As a reporter, he covered many of the most important global stories of the last decade including the NATO-led war in Afghanistan the military trials at Guatànamo Bay, Cuba the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt and the Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson, Missouri.Ī graduate of Queen’s University in Ontario, Omar is a recipient of Canada’s National Newspaper Award for investigative reporting for his coverage of the “Toronto 18” terrorism arrests. Omar El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Doha, Qatar, before moving to Canada with his family. Contact Karen vanMeenen for more information & Books Social: Landing Page Facebook, Twitter, Instagram It is a story of ruin, of revenge, of division-but also a lesson in empathy and the ties that can either bind or break us.Ĭopies of A merican War are on sale at Writers & Books for $16.95. This is a narrative that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself.

It is in Camp Patience where Sarat is befriended by a mysterious older man and turned into a weapon of war herself. After her father is killed, Sarat and her family are forced into a camp for displaced persons. Fossil fuels have been outlawed, half the coastal areas of the US are under water, and drones are common sights in the sky above. The protagonist of American War, Sarat Chestnut, is six years old when the Second American Civil War breaks out in the year 2074. One family is caught in the middle of the divided regions and conflicted alliances and the effects of this fractured country on a young girl has consequences for generations. After climate change led to political upheaval and a decimation of the population, a plague is unleashed and further devastates the country’s population. El Akkad will be in residence doing readings, book signings, and other appearances at local libraries, colleges, and senior centers in Rochester and throughout the region March 26 through March 29, 2019.Īmerican War is a powerful and surprisingly prescient novel about a second US Civil War in the late 21st century. Writers & Books announces American War by Omar El Akkad as the selection for the 2019 Rochester Reads program.

Omar el akkad novels