Omar El Akkad

Omar El Akkad is an author and journalist who previously worked for the Globe and Mail and has reported from around the world, including Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. He has written two novels, American War (2017) and What Strange Paradise (2021). Both books have received several accolades and awards. In 2021, Omar won the Giller Prize for his novel What Strange Paradise.

He has written for news sources such as The Washington Post and The New York Times, as well as newspapers and magazines like The Guardian, GQ and many more.

Omar joined the Embassy Cultural House through a partnership with Words: The Literary and Creative Arts Festival in London, ON, held in November 2022. ECH and Words hosted two events with Omar : Words' opening night event with film maker Janice Zolf and the following day at an event titled “When Home isn’t a Place”in conversation with Salah D. Hassan, Director of Global Studies at Michigan State University, Lansing Michigan, USA.

You can visit his website for more information and links to his other works, both fiction and non-fiction.

Work by Omar

Cover of American War, 2017

Cover of What Strange Paradise, 2021

Salah D. Hassan and Omar El Akkad in conversation at Words: London's Literary and Creative Arts Festival, November 5, 2022.

“When Home Isn’t a Place,” WordsFest Promotional Graphic, 2022.

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E M B A S S Y C U L T U R A L H O U S E . C A

The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is located in London, Ontario, Canada on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Attawandaron and Huron-Wendat peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Wampum and other treaties. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial.