Oregon Book Awards
2 appearances
-
Edition 32 (2018) Winner
-
Edition 36 (2022) Winner
Omar El Akkad
オマル・エル・アッカド
Omar El Akkad
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1982 （Cairo, Egypt）
- Nationality
- Egyptian, Canadian
- Languages
- English, Arabic
- Religion
- Islam
- Residence History
- Cairo, Egypt → Doha, Qatar → Montreal, Canada → Kingston, Ontario, Canada → Portland, Oregon, United States
Career
- Occupations
- journalist, novelist, author
- Active Years
- 2017-
- Affiliations
- The Globe and Mail
- Influenced By
- Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth
- Nominations
- Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize Finalist (2017), amazon.ca First Novel Award Finalist (2018), National Book Award for Nonfiction Finalist (2025)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's University at Kingston | — | Computer Science | Bachelor of Computer Science | — | Canada |
Queen's University at Kingston
Computer Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Computer Science
Country:
Canada
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Giller Prize | What Strange Paradise | — | Scotiabank Giller Prize | Winner |
| 2018 | Kobo Emerging Writer Prize | American War | Fiction | — | Winner |
| 2022 | Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award | What Strange Paradise | — | — | Winner |
Giller Prize
2021
Work:
What Strange Paradise
Organization:
Scotiabank Giller Prize
Result:
Winner
Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
2018
Work:
American War
Category:
Fiction
Result:
Winner
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award
2022
Work:
What Strange Paradise
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Giller Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 28 (2021) Winner
Works
Major Works
American War
2017 Dystopian novelA novel depicting a second American Civil War in the mid-21st century.
warrevengefamily
What Strange Paradise
2021 NovelA Syrian boy, the sole survivor of a migrant boat sinking, flees across a Greek island with the help of a local girl. Explores the global migration crisis.
migrationrefugeeshumanity
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
2025 NonfictionA work about the 2024 war on Gaza.
Gaza warWestern hypocrisy
Bibliography
- American War
- What Strange Paradise
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Translations by Author
- Foreword to The Annotated Arabian Nights
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Detailed descriptionsRealistic fictional futures
- Recurring Motifs
- warmigrationidentity
Legacy
Winner of the Giller Prize, acclaimed for novels addressing migration and war, influential in Canadian literature.
In Popular Culture
- Selected in BBC's 100 most influential novels
Trivia
- Identifies as Muslim.
- Covered Afghanistan war and Arab Spring for Canadian newspaper.