Login here (no pre-registration needed): https://tinyurl.com/ZellWriters

Zell Visiting Writers Series readings and Q&As are free and open to the public, and will be offered both virtually (via Zoom) and in person (in UMMA's Stern Auditorium). Seats are offered on a first come, first served basis; please arrive early to secure a spot. Please contact asbates@umich.edu with any questions or accommodation needs.


Rumaan Alam is an author whose writing explores the beauty and horror of daily existence, as well as complex ideas about fate and privilege.

After his parents moved from Bangladesh in the ‘70s, Rumaan grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. He was an obsessive reader and knew he wanted to be a writer by the time he was 10 years old. After studying English and graduating from Oberlin College, he has written three novels: Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and his latest, the instant New York Times bestseller Leave the World Behind. A finalist for the 2020 National Book Award, Leave the World Behind is also being adapted for film with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington in lead roles.

Rumaan’s other writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Buzzfeed, and The New Republic, where he is a contributing editor. He also co-hosts two podcasts for Slate.

Rumaan lives in New York with his husband and two children.


For any questions about the event or to share accommodation needs, please email asbates@umich.edu-- we are eager to help ensure that this event is inclusive to you. The building, event space, and restrooms are wheelchair accessible. Diaper changing tables are available in nearby restrooms. Gender-inclusive restrooms are available on the second floor of the Museum, accessible via the stairs, or in nearby Hatcher Graduate Library (Floors 3, 4, 5, and 6). The Hatcher Library also offers a reflection room (4th Floor South Stacks), and a lactation room (Room 13W, an anteroom to the basement women's staff restroom, or Room 108B, an anteroom of the first floor women's restroom). ASL interpreters and CART services at in-person events are available upon request; please email asbates@umich.edu at least two weeks prior to the event, whenever possible, to allow time to arrange services.

U-M employees with a U-M parking permit may use the Church Street Parking Structure (525 Church St., Ann Arbor) or the Thompson Parking Structure (500 Thompson St., Ann Arbor). There is limited metered street parking on State Street and South University Avenue. The Forest Avenue Public Parking Structure (650 South Forest Ave., Ann Arbor) is five blocks away, and the parking rate is $1.20 per hour. All of these options include parking spots for individuals with disabilities.