The year 2015 has seen a spike in anti-Muslim rhetoric. Presidential candidates have suggested, among other things, that American Muslims "celebrated" the attacks of September 11, that they should be forced to register in a federal database, and that refugees be forced to undergo a religious test. This rhetoric is vicious and shrill, but it is not new. And it persists regardless of what the facts may say. Part of the reason for this is that Muslims are presented as latecomers to America, recent arrivals who’ve grafted themselves into an already thriving country. In fact, Muslims have been part of America since before it became a nation. In this talk, Laila Lalami will discuss history, its transmission, and how fiction can help us fill in some of its many gaps and silences.

Laila Lalami is the author, most recently, of The Moor’s Account, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. She writes the “Between the Lines” column for The Nation, and is a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside. Booksigning & sale immediately following.
Free and open to the public. Seating is limited; please arrive early.