Middle East

July 26, 2009

The Night Counter Sells Out At Book Soup

Thank you to everyone who came to yesterday’s reading at Book Soup. You didn’t leave a copy in the store! (More books are on their way) When I first moved to LA many years ago, it was a terribly clunky move, with lots of test and trials that were not easy, in fact, often very Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Los Angeles, Middle East

Authors, Books, The Night Counter
July 21, 2009

THE NIGHT COUNTER: NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER AT VROMAN’S

It really is true: http://hometown-pasadena.com/2009/07/vromans-bestsellers-7202009/ Of course, that probably will not be the case next week at Vroman’s, as there are no books left in the store at the moment. But fear not, more are on the way. The Night Counter’s sold out status at one of L.A.’s best bookstores—if not one of the country’s–is Continue reading

Author, Books, Los Angeles, Middle East, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

Author, Books, The Night Counter, Vroman’s
July 16, 2009

I Love My Daily Candy!

Chocolate milk balls, black licorice, gummy bears…but today it was extra sweet: http://www.dailycandy.com/los_angeles/article/70636/Magic+Carpet+Ride July 15, 2009 Magic Carpet Ride “The Night Counter,” by Alia Yunis Little pigs and lost siblings make for decent bedtime story fodder. But the life and times of Fatima Abdullah, the madcap matriarch of Alia Yunis’s charming debut, The Night Counter, Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

Author, book reviews, The Night Counter
July 6, 2009

Israeli authorities threaten demolition of 500 church buildings

Add this to the daily demolition of generations old homes, the bulldozing of olive trees and other land cultivated for centuries, the siphoning off of water–not to mention the human rights abuses–and people still wonder why Palestinian hearts break every day. Israeli authorities threaten demolition of 500 church buildings Date: 28 June 2009 Israeli authorities Continue reading

Arabs, Middle East, Palestine

Christians, Jerusalem, Palestine
July 3, 2009

THE NIGHT COUNTER UPDATES: GERMANY, THE KINDLE AND MORE

As I get used to being back in L.A.—in some ways I’ve been gone more than a year and in other ways I forget that I haven’t been here for almost a year– I’d just thought I’d take a moment to do an update on what’s going on with The Night Counter, some of which Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, Travel

Author, Germany, Kindle, The Night Counter
June 28, 2009

LIVING IN THE SOUND OF MUSIC:What Does A Small Alpine Village Have In Common With Abu Dhabi?

I’m in Obervellach in southern Austria, population 1,500, where the hills are alive with The Sound of Music—the movie that is. Everywhere you turn, you’re waiting for Julie Andrews to come twirling down the mountain or the Von Tramp children to pop out of the bright flower boxes on the Alpine homes and break into Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arts and Culture, Middle East, Travel

Abu Dhabi, Alps, Author, Middle East, Travel
June 19, 2009

A Recipe From the Night Counter: Foul Medamos

In The Night Counter, Laila goes to the Arabic grocery in Detroit and decides for the first time in her marriage not to buy the ingredients to make her Egyptian husband foul. Whether you write it out from Arabic as “foul” or “fool,” I’ll grant you that it doesn’t sound very appetizing in English. But Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Food, Middle East, recipes

Middle East, recipes
June 16, 2009

The Night Counter: A Starred Review in Kirkus

The Night Counter received a starred reveiw in Kirkus Reviews this week. It leaves a tired writer so joyful she is wordless. A link to the original can be found at: http://www.aliayunis.com/press.html (It also inspired Chris Costello, the person who designed this website, and I to update the Events page on the website.) But if Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, Publishing

Arab Americans, Author, Books, Middle East
June 12, 2009

NOT ALL ARAB COUNTRIES HAVE CAMEL CROSSINGS

Not all Arab countries are created equal—most of them have oil as a big part of their identity, but for some it’s the oil that runs cars and for others it’s the stuff the comes from olives. A couple of them, like Algeria, have both. Sometimes the contrast between Arab countries is minimal, such as Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Author, Books, Dubai, Jordan, Middle East
June 4, 2009

Making Movies in Abu Dhabi

This spring my students have won several awards for their films—-national awards, not international, but we haven’t tried that yet. It’s my first year teaching them, and it’s the first year they make short narrative films and documentaries that are not tour guides to the UAE. The results, good and bad, have been a surprise Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Film, Middle East

About Alia

Alia Yunis is a writer, journalist and filmmaker. She is currently producing and directing “The Golden Harvest,” a feature length documentary about how olive oil has shaped the Mediterranean culture, cuisine and history for 6,000 years, through war and peace. Her debut novel, The Night Counter (Random House) has been critically acclaimed by the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and several other publications. It was also chosen as a top summer read by the Chicago Tribune and Boston Phoenix. The Boston Globe has called it “wonderfully imaginative…poignant, hilarious.” Alia was born in Chicago and grew up in the U.S., Greece, and the Middle East. She has worked as a filmmaker and journalist in several cities, especially Los Angeles. Her fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including The Robert Olen Butler Best Short Stories collection, and her non-fiction work includes articles for The Los Angeles Times, Saveur, SportsTravel Magazine, and Aramco World. She currently teaches film at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi.