Writing

January 27, 2024

A Land and a Camera

The world is made of stories, and most journalists will discover in their career more stories than they can ever tell, even if they never leave where they were born. We are tragically seeing that today with the young journalists in Gaza. Unlike them, I have had the opportunity to travel much further in pursuit Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arabs, Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Food, Islam/Muslim, Middle East, Saudi Arabia

aramco-world, Aseer, bo-kaap, cape-town, cheese, dugongs, filmmaking, honduras, Jordan, journalism, madaba, majlis-painters, mosques, Tromsø, Writer, Writing
April 22, 2019

Earth Day & Best of the Fest Connection

The Golden Harvest will have an encore screening at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival as part of the Best of the Fest screenings–Super! Wednesday, April 24 at 4:50 pm at St. Anthony Main: https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=436771~36893ed1-b0b9-423c-bbab-90f22d0aeafe&epguid=78d5df86-076b-41eb-9b27-8d9e012642d6& I lived in a house only once in my life. For three years. It was in Minnesota in Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arts and Culture, Film, Food, Greece, Heritage, Italy, Jordan, Middle East, Minnesota, Olive Oil, olive trees, Spain, The Golden Harvest, Uncategorized

Arab female filmmakers, artists, Authors, Film, Food, Greece, Italy, Olive oil, Women, Writing
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
February 28, 2019

The Schedule for Thessaloniki International Film Festival

We are delighted that The Golden Harvest will make its international debut at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival . Please join us if you can! For more information, visit: https://www.filmfestival.gr/en/movie/movie/11920 TONIA MARKETAKI 04 March 2019 15:30 JOHN CASSAVETES 05 March 2019 12:45 Continue reading

Arab Americans, Arts and Culture, Author, Film, Food, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East, Olive Oil, olive trees, Palestine, Spain, The Golden Harvest, Writing

Culture, Film, film festival, Food, Olive oil, Olive Tree, Oman, Television, Thessaloniki Internatnional Film Festival, Writing
May 7, 2012

Gained in Translation (and how I lost the ‘dude’)

Interesting. I wonder what this is about? That was my initial reaction when I opened a package from my publisher the other day and saw Przepowiednia Szeherezady. I was thinking that another writer must be as equally obsessed with Scheherazade as I am. Perhaps she had read The Night Counter, and had liked it so Continue reading

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

Poland, The Night Counter, Translation, Writing
October 6, 2011

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for Letting Me Write

Since I was in college, the one thing that has been in my life nearly everyday—and for better or worse, nearly all day—has been my Apple. Along with one of those apples that grow on trees, turning on my Mac has been part of my morning ritual wherever I have been and in whatever state-of-mind Continue reading

Author, Books, Film, Publishing, Teaching, Travel

Author, Steve Jobs, Writer, Writing
February 14, 2010

Love Notes From Fatima and Scheherazade

Debutante’s Ball is a website of a bunch of fun authors with upcoming books. Alicia Bessette, whose novel is coming out in August and who’s one of the webmasters asked me to write a bit on love, and here you go, and I think Fatima and Scheherazade would approve: Some Love Notes for Debutantes http://www.thedebutanteball.com/?m=20100213 Continue reading

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

Authors, love, romance, Writing
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
July 17, 2009

At A BOOKSTORE SOMEWHERE IN LA

Or How Not To Buy Your Own Book. The first day The Night Counter came out, my friend Natasha promptly bought it at Barnes and Noble in New York, and another friend did the same in Nashville. So I thought I’m going to go buy my own book, too. Just to see it in a Continue reading

Arts and Culture, Author, Books, Publishing

Authors, Books, The Night Counter, Writing

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.