Alia Yunis

February 6, 2010

Silence As Golden As Sand

“Silence” is a relative word, referring to how quiet a place is compared to other times. Silence in a home still involves the hum of the fridge, the heater, the creaking in the wood, the wind on the windows, and so many other things. Outside, it means the birds still chirping, bugs buzzing, the breeze, Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Author, Books, Middle East, Travel

Abu Dhabi, Liwa, SIlence, UAE
January 31, 2010

TAYEB SALIH: ARABS IN TRANSLATION

My first job out of college was working at the television station in Qatar, and one of the first things my co-worders told me was “Tayeb Salih used to run this place.” There was a reverence in their voices that I didn’t get because I will admit I had never heard of him. But I Continue reading

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

Arab Literature, Season of Migration, Tayeb Salih
January 15, 2010

Hanging Out With The Djinn

When I taught ESL at UCLA, one of my favorite students was Hideo Nakata. He was utterly charming, friendly and warm—a guy who you would imagine would appreciate Frank Capra movies. Hideo-san was in fact a director himself. But no sunny Frank Capra. He was—and still is—one of the world’s great horror film directors, almost Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Middle East

Nizwa, Oman, Rumors
January 7, 2010

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

I’m opposed to making lofty new year’s resolutions–aside from the token and easily forgettable “I’ll try to eat less chocolate”—as they sometime trivializes a dream. But I’m happy to make resolutions for others, kind of like the UN. Here are my new year’s resolutions for the Middle East, and I know they’re laced with loftiness Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Dubai, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestine

Middle East, New Year’s Resolutions
December 15, 2009

Alternative Tourism in Jordan

A couple of my friends from Abu Dhabi, all Americans, went to Jordan this week, and because I am in Jordan so often, they wanted my opinion of what to do—especially with their first two days in Amman. My best advice for tourists stuck in Amman is to leave, as it is the only part Continue reading

Arabs, Jordan, Middle East, Palestine

Amman, Jordan, Tourism
December 8, 2009

Christmas Gifts from the Holyland

For those of us have seen Palestine, there is an irony to Christmas, this celebration of the Prince of Peace born in a land that defies that very word ‘peace” with words combinations like land confiscation, separation wall, medical deprivation, malnutrition, phosphorous bombs, home demolitions. (I could also mention the poverty, crime and drug abuse Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Food, Middle East, Palestine
December 3, 2009

BEIRUT: CATS INSTEAD OF GUNS

When I used to look out at the Corniche from our apartment in Beirut in the 1980s, I’d see a lot of guns, partly because a makeshift military post had sprung up one night in the field in front of us, and partly because there was a war. People still found away to walk the Continue reading

Arabs, Author, Books, Lebanon, Middle East
November 16, 2009

DISNEYLANDIFICATION AND THE HIJAB

In order to get to my reading in Cairo, my two colleagues and I had to negotiate with a stoned cab driver, whose body for most of the harrowing ride was half out the taxi chatting with a man stuck on the bus next to us, and a donkey who refused to budge off the Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Egypt, Middle East

Cairo, Egypt, hijab, Middle East
October 30, 2009

NOT ALL GULF COUNTRIES FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON

As I got into my first taxi in Bahrain last weekend, the taxi driver shocked me: He was Bahraini. He dressed and looked like someone from the UAE, but he was most definitely not Emirati. Emiratis may live just down the Gulf from Bahrain, but they do not drive cabs. Heck, they barely ride in Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, bahrain, Books, Dubai, Middle East

Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, UAE
October 20, 2009

THE NIGHT COUNTER’S MIDDLE EAST TOUR BEGINS

Six weeks after finishing the initial U.S. tour, The Night Counter and I are going to do a little tour of the Middle East. Started out easy last night at the American Women’s Network in Abu Dhabi, where, thanks to my friend Annette, many of the women had already read it and were fans. Next Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Middle East, Publishing

Book Tour, The Night Counter, Travel

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.