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Laila Lalami

ライラ・ララミ

Laila Lalami

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1968-01-01 （Rabat, Morocco）
Nationality
Morocco, United States
Languages
Moroccan Arabic, Standard Arabic, French, English
Residence History
Rabat, Morocco → London, United Kingdom → Los Angeles, United States → Riverside, California, United States

Career

Occupations
novelist, essayist, professor
Active Years
1996-
Affiliations
University of California, Riverside (Professor of Creative Writing), Harvard Radcliffe Institute (Fellow), The Nation (columnist)
Influenced By
Edward Said
Nominations
2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction nominee (The Moor's Account), 2015 Man Booker Prize longlist (The Moor's Account), 2019 National Book Award for Fiction finalist (The Other Americans)

Education

Mohammed V University (Rabat)
Faculty of English / English
Degree: Licence ès lettres
Period: 1980s
Year of Graduation: 1989
Country: Morocco
Received a licence ès lettres in English
University College London
Graduate Faculty (Linguistics) / Linguistics
Degree: MA
Period: 1990–1991
Year of Graduation: 1991
Country: United Kingdom
Studied on a British Council fellowship and earned an MA in Linguistics
University of Southern California
Graduate Faculty (Linguistics) / Linguistics
Degree: PhD
Period: 1992–1998
Year of Graduation: 1998
Country: United States
Moved to Los Angeles to pursue and completed a PhD in Linguistics

Awards

American Book Award
2015
Work: The Moor's Account
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: Winner
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
2015
Work: The Moor's Account
Organization: Hurston/Wright Foundation
Result: Winner
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
2015
Work: The Moor's Account
Organization: Pulitzer Prizes
Result: Finalist
Joyce Carol Oates Prize
2019
Work: The Other Americans
Organization: Simpson Literary Project
Result: Winner
National Book Award for Fiction
2019
Work: The Other Americans
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Finalist
Arab American Book Award (Fiction)
2020
Work: The Other Americans
Organization: Arab American Museum
Result: Winner
Langum Prizes (Historical Fiction Prize)
2014
Work: The Moor's Account
Organization: Langum Charitable Trust
Result: Winner
Guggenheim Fellowship
2016
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: Fellowship
Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship
2006
Work: Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
Organization: Oregon Literary Arts
Result: Fellowship

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

2005 Fiction (linked short stories / novel) 224 pages

Follows four Moroccan migrants attempting to reach Spain by boat, interweaving their pasts and futures in linked stories about migration, risk, and hope.

migrationhope and despairsocial class

Secret Son

2009 Fiction (coming-of-age) 320 pages

Set in the slums of Casablanca, follows Youssef as he discovers family secrets and navigates social upheaval, exploring identity and class.

identityclass inequalityurban unrest

The Moor's Account

2014 Historical fiction 336 pages

Tells the story of Estevanico, a Moroccan slave and one of the survivors of the Narváez expedition, reimagining early colonial encounters and the gaps in recorded history.

memory and recordcolonialismhistory of the marginalized

The Other Americans

2019 Fiction (multi-perspective novel) 320 pages

Begins with the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant in a hit-and-run and examines the case and community through nine interconnected perspectives.

xenophobiaimmigrant experiencecommunity fractures

Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America

2020 Nonfiction (essays) 240 pages

A collection of essays about belonging and citizenship in America, analyzing immigration, identity, and structural exclusion.

citizenshipbelongingimmigration policy

The Dream Hotel

2025 Near-future dystopian novel 320 pages

Through the detention of a Moroccan-American archivist whose dreams are flagged by an algorithm, the novel interrogates surveillance, privacy erosion, and predictive justice.

surveillance societyprivacyfree will and technology

Bibliography

  • Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (2005)
  • Secret Son (2009)
  • The Moor's Account (2014)
  • The Other Americans (2019)
  • Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America (2020)
  • The Dream Hotel (2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
multi-perspective narrationhistorical-reconstruction techniquescritically engaged prose focusing on social issues
Recurring Motifs
identitymigration and bordersmemory and the voiceless

Legacy

As a Moroccan-born author writing in English, she has produced critically acclaimed works on migration, history, and identity, earning major awards and nominations and exerting influence through teaching and cultural criticism.

Academic Societies

  • Harvard Radcliffe Institute (Fellowship)
  • University of California, Riverside (Faculty)

Archives

  • University of California, Riverside profile/archive
  • Author's official website (archive)

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently taught and discussed in university courses and book clubs

Quotes

  • The characters' names, their homes, their cities, their lives were wholly different from my own, and yet, because of my constant exposure to them, they had grown utterly familiar.
    Source: Author narrative bio / essay (2009)

Trivia

  • Born in Rabat, Morocco, and often writes in English.
  • Finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Moor's Account.
  • Published the near-future novel The Dream Hotel in 2025.