Arab Americans

September 11, 2021

Early Morning Calls

How September 11 Made Me a Muslim Writer When I woke up on Sept 11, 2001 in my apartment in LA, it was still dark. I was a struggling screenwriter up with the sun. I was trying to be like Stephen King, who I’d heard somewhere woke up at 3 am to get his writing Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arts and Culture, Heritage, Islam/Muslim, Uncategorized, Writing

Arab Americans, Muslims, September 11, writers
September 14, 2013

Ketching Up With Freedom

Freedom is the gotcha word of the Middle East decade—it’s the reason everyone is claiming to be helping—i.e. bombing, maiming, spying on and killing–everyone else. The definition of freedom (and its purpose) is a little vague under the circumstances. But I was set straight this past summer. I was on an airplane and sitting next Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arabs, Jordan, Middle East, Travel

Arab Americans, Freedom, Jordan, Ketchup
June 3, 2011

War and Body Image: Guernica and Arab American Literature

When my friend and author Randa Jarrar asked me for a short story for a collection she was editing for Guernica, I wrote “Girls on Ice.” Those were the people talking in my head at the time. Some form of them is always talking in my head because they are in part who I once Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Islam/Muslim, Middle East, Publishing

alienation, Arab Americans, Guernica, literature, short stories
May 17, 2010

Breaking News and Beauty Queens

I got two e-mails marked “Breaking News” from two Arab American organizations today. I’ve never gotten breaking news from Arab American organizations, not about terrorism and counter terrorism, not about racial profiling, not about civil rights, not about a great new film, book, or art exhibition. But today I got breaking news: An Arab American Continue reading

Arabs, Arts and Culture

Arab Americans, Miss USA
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

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.

Arab Americans

Early Morning Calls

Ketching Up With Freedom

War and Body Image: Guernica and Arab American Literature

Breaking News and Beauty Queens

The Night Counter: A Starred Review in Kirkus