Omar El Akkad
CBC Books | | Posted: January 30, 2018 10:00 AM | Last Updated: July 14, 2022
Author of What Strange Paradise, championed by Tareq Hadhad
Canada Reads will take place March 28-31. The debates will be hosted by Ali Hassan and will be broadcast on CBC Radio One, CBC TV, CBC Gem and on CBC Books.
About Omar El Akkad
Omar El Akkad is a Canadian journalist and author who currently lives in Portland, Ore. He is also the author of the novel American War, which was defended on Canada Reads 2018 by actor Tahmoh Penikett. El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt and grew up in Doha, Qatar before moving 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, Mo. He is a recipient of Canada's National Newspaper Award for Investigations and the Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Young Canadian Journalists, as well as three National Magazine Award honourable mentions. What Strange Paradise won the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
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Books by Omar El Akkad
The Canada Reads 2022 contenders
- Christian Allaire champions Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
- Malia Baker champions Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
- Tareq Hadhad champions What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad
- Suzanne Simard champions Life In the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Müller
- Mark Tewksbury champions Washington Black by Esi Edugyan