Kamal Al-Solaylee

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Kamal Al-Solaylee
Kamal Al-Solaylee at the Eden Mills Writers Festival in 2016
Al-Solaylee at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2016
BornAden, Yemen
OccupationWriter, journalist
NationalityCanadian
Period2000s-present
Notable worksIntolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

Kamal Al-Solaylee (born 1964) is a Canadian journalist, who published his debut book, Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes, in 2012.

Born in Aden, his family went into exile in Beirut and Cairo following the British decolonization of Yemen in 1967.[1] Following a brief return to Yemen in his 20s, Al-Solaylee moved to London to complete his PhD in English, before moving to Canada.[1]

He has worked extensively as a journalist in Canada, including work for The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, the Toronto Star, the National Post, The Walrus, Xtra! and Toronto Life.

His book Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes is a memoir of his experience as a gay man growing up in the Middle East.[2] The book was a shortlisted nominee for the 2012 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction,[3] the 2013 Lambda Literary Award in the Gay Memoir/Biography category,[4] and the 2013 Toronto Book Award.[5]

He served on the jury of the 2012 Dayne Ogilvie Prize, a literary award for emerging LGBT writers in Canada, selecting Amber Dawn as that year's winner. He is on the jury for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.[6]

Intolerable was selected for the 2015 edition of Canada Reads, where it was defended by actress Kristin Kreuk.[7]

His second book, Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (To Everyone), was published in 2016.[8] The book was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2016 Governor General's Awards,[9] and won the 2017 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Reflections on growing up gay in Yemen". Toronto Star, 20 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Escape from intolerance: one man's journey to Canada from Yemen". The Globe and Mail, 16 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Kamal Al-Solaylee shortlisted for Writers' Trust award". Xtra!, 25 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Rae Spoon, Kamal Al-Solaylee among Canadian Lambda nominees". Quill & Quire, 6 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Toronto Book Awards shortlist announced". Toronto Star, 15 August 2013.
  6. ^ The Scotiabank Giller Prize: Introducing the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize Jury
  7. ^ "CBC announces Canada Reads finalists". Toronto Star, January 20, 2015.
  8. ^ "A question of tone: In a new book, Kamal Al-Solaylee tackles the incredibly complex and all-encompassing communities that constitute 'brown' people". The Globe and Mail, May 7, 2016.
  9. ^ "Governor-General’s Literary Award short list a serious case of déjà vu". The Globe and Mail, October 4, 2016.
  10. ^ "Kamal Al-Solaylee wins Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone)". CBC Books, May 11, 2017.
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