Travel

April 4, 2019

GETTING HERITAGE IN WRITING: This Month’s Aramco World Cover Story

These are just some thoughts of mine after my third visit to Cape Town, this time to write this month’s cover story for Aramco World Magazine https://www.aramcoworld.com/en-US/Articles/March-2019/The-Handwritten-Heritage-of-South-Africa-s-Kitabs The first time I saw the Western Cape, I thought “This looks just like Los Angeles,” and then I thought, “This looks just like Lebanon.” I’m not just Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arts and Culture, Author, Heritage, Islam/Muslim, Publishing, Slavery, South Africa, Uncategorized, Western Cap, Writing

Authors, Heritage, Islam, museums, Quran, Slavery, South Africa, Travel, Western Cape, Women, Writing
March 18, 2019

Full House for The Golden Harvest Debut at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival

(March 14, 2019) The Golden Harvest (2019, 85 min) made its debut on March 4, 2019 at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival to a full house. The screening was followed by a lively Q & A that continued onto the pier along the fabulous arthouse area of the city where the majority of the festival Continue reading

Arab Americans, Film, Food, Greece, Italy, Middle East, Olive Oil, olive trees, Palestine, Spain, The Golden Harvest, Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Alia Yunis, Documentary, Film, film festival, Food, Greece, Italy, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Diet, Palestine, Spain, Thessaloniki Internatnional Film Festival, Travel
September 26, 2015

The Golden Harvest in Post Production

The olives are still too green for oil. But if they want them for table olives, they’ll do okay. Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Food, Greece, Italy, Olive Oil, Palestine, recipes, Spain

Documentary, Film, Mediterranean, Olive oil, Travel
July 30, 2010

Question My Name, but Don’t Call Me Overweight

The latest Southwest fat incident, this time with an obese teen getting to keep her two seats, even though her parents didn’t pay for them, and the smaller person getting bumped off, reminded me that yes, I too have my own Southwest fat story, and quite frankly it was more frustrating and certainly more physically Continue reading

Travel

Baggage, Overweight, Southwest Airlines, Travel
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
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

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.