|
- ELMAZ ABINADER's books, Children of the Roojme, a Family's Journey
from Lebanon, and In the Country of my Dreams...., as well as her play, Country of
Origin illustrate personal lives negotiating hostile terrain. Most recently Elmaz
performed Country of Origin at the Kennedy Center-- Oregon Drama Critics cited
Country of Origin for its excellence by awarding two Drammies to the play and to
the composer of the music, Tony Khalife. Other awards include a PEN Award for In
the Country of My Dreams... and a Goldies Award for Literature.
- Elmaz has also been a Fulbright Senior Fellow to Egypt and a winner
of several residencies.
Her upcoming work The Water Cycle is at memoir that draws
from Elmaz's childhood experiences growing up in a all-white Appalachian coal
mining community and her subsequent journeys around the world. Each story
describes an encounter with the shaky concept of identity and cultural relationship
Now a professor at Mills College, Elmaz's primary concern is giving voice to other
writers of color. Her participation in VONA allows her the opportunity to make a
difference in the growth of the cannon of literature of color.
In addition, Elmaz is a fitness instructor at the YMCA in Oakland CA where she
lives with her husband Anthony Byers.
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
|
