Author and Assistant Professor Ghassan Zeinnedine [afikra Conversations]
Ghassan Zeinnedine talks to us about the complexities of faithfully depicting a multi-layered community through short-stories, and the history of Arab-American immigration. We also explore the Arab-American experience in the post-9/11 era, looking at what anxieties and tensions are still felt in the Dearborn and wider communities.
Ghassan Zeinnedine is an author and assistant professor of creative writing at Oberlin college. He is also the co-editor of the creative non-fiction anthology Had Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging. His debut collection “Dearborn” examines the diverse range and complexities of the Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan. In ten tragicomic stories, Zeineddine explores themes of identity, generational conflicts, war trauma, migration, sexuality, queerness, home and belonging, and more.
About Conversations
afikra Conversations is our flagship program featuring long-form interviews with experts from academia, art, and media who are helping document and/or shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community still walks away with new found curiosity - and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first.
