Alia Yunis

September 14, 2009

My Friend Sami Deeb

In May, I learned that I would be doing two events in Seattle as part of my book tour. I made a mental note right away to let my childhood buddy Sami D. know soon. We had grown up together, and spent hours hanging out as teenagers, he, Sami Z and me. And as adults, Continue reading

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Sami Deeb
September 12, 2009

The Sacremento Book Review & The Night Counter

http://sacramentobookreview.com/modern_literature/the-night-counter/ The Night Counter Posted by Editor at 8 September, 2009, 9:25 am By Alia Yunis Shaye Areheart Books, $23.00, 365 pages When the immortal storyteller Scheherazade gives Fatima Abdullah 1,001 nights to tell the great stories of her life, Fatima begins to prepare for her death. Between getting her affairs in order, Fatima spends Continue reading

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

Authors, book reviews
September 6, 2009

The Boston Globe Review

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/08/09/in_dunants_sacred_hearts_a_story_of_thwarted_love_and_church_intrigue/ “In Alia Yunis’s poignant, hilarious first novel, “The Night Counter,’’ purple-haired, 85-year-old Fatimah Abdulla tells her life story to Scheherazade, the legendary storyteller from “The Arabian Nights,’’ who appears every night in the elderly woman’s Los Angeles bedroom. Fatimah has plenty of stories. She came to Detroit from Lebanon as a teenage bride, had Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Publishing

Author, book reviews, Books, Boston Globe, The Night Counter
September 2, 2009

One Hundred Years Twenty Years Later

During my tour of The Night Counter, I was often asked either “What writers have influenced you the most?’ or “Who are you favorite writers?” I have no answer for the first because to say Gabriel Garcia Marquez influenced me is to say that I’ve made some conscious choice to use his style or tone Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Publishing

Authors, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Night Counter, Writing
August 28, 2009

RAMADAN IN DETROIT

Here in Abu Dhabi Ramadan is essentially a national event, a month of family celebration as well as religious significance, with virtually every Emirati fasting. In THE NIGHT COUNTER, Fatima doesn’t talk about Ramadan but she is someone who fasts the whole month. Fatima spent most of her life in Detroit, which is the largest Continue reading

Abu Dhabi, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Food, Middle East, recipes

Author, Detroit, Ramadan
August 26, 2009

The Night Counter On True Talk in Tampa On Aug. 21

Here is the link to Samar Jarrah’s interview with me on NPR Tampa’s True Talk: http://www.wmnf.org/programs/256 Continue reading

Author, Books, Middle East

Author, The Night Counter
August 20, 2009

Mathematics and Olive Oil

In The Night Counter, Fatima is fixated on numbers and it is something that runs through the family for five generations. She thinks about math when’s she’s cooking, too, as any woman who raised 14 kids probably would—how much to make for each one, how much it was costing, and so forth. And how many Continue reading

Arabs, Author, Food, Lebanon, Middle East, Palestine

Author, math, Olive oil, The Night Counter
August 18, 2009

PENN, CHEESESTEAKS, AND BROTHERLY LOVE

A week ago I was in Philadelphia reading at the Penn Bookstore, my first East Coast stop. I was pretty uncomfortable about Philadelphia, as it was a city I had no base in, so I accepted the offers of two friends to come down from New Jersey and New York for the event, bringing along Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Publishing

Author, cheese steaks, Philadelphia, The Night Counter
August 15, 2009

The Washington Post Review

It’s pretty cool to get reviewed by one of the book critics you respect the most. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081303267.html A SCHERHEZADE FOR OUR TIMES LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO 1,001 NIGHTS By Carolyn See Special to The Washington Post Friday, August 14, 2009 Shaye Areheart. 365 pp. $24 Some people write about death, dying and tragedy as if Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Books, NIght Counter Reviews and Press, Publishing

book reviews, The Night Counter, Washington Post
August 10, 2009

The Minneapolis Star Tribune and Other Reasons I Love Minnesota

The Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote a great review of The Night Counter in its Sunday edition: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/52617702.html (Link also posted under The Night Counter Press & Reviews here) But that is not the only reason I was excited to do a reading for Mizna (www.mizna.org) in Minneapolis on Saturday. Minnesota has been a part of Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Minnesota, Publishing

Books, Minnesota, reviews, The Night Counter

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.