Alia Malek

Alia Malek (born December 29, 1974) is an American writer, journalist and lawyer.

Alia Malek
Born	(1974-12-29) December 29, 1974 (age 50) Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Occupation(s)	Journalist, lawyer, writer
Years active	2000–present
Known for	literary and nonfiction writing about Syria
Notable work	The Home That Was Our Country (memoir)

Early life and career

Malek was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1974. Her parents had immigrated to the United States from Syria. Malek graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1996.^[1] She then earned a J.D. degree at Georgetown University Law Center. She worked as a civil rights lawyer at the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and later went back to school to obtain a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.^[2]

She published her first book in 2009, A Country Called Amreeka. From 2011 to 2013, she lived in Damascus, Syria. Her memoir The Home That Was Our Country is based on this period.^[3] She also worked as a senior writer for Al Jazeera America.^[4] Her stories have appeared in publications icluding The New Yorker, The New York Times^[5] and The Nation.

Awards

• 2016 – Hiett Prize^[6][7]

Works

• A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories New York: Free Press, 2009. ISBN 9781416592686, OCLC 297405959
• (editor) Patriot Acts: Narratives of Post-9/11 Injustice San Francisco, Calif. McSweeneys Books 2011. ISBN 9781936365371, OCLC 838115917
• The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria New York, NY: Nation Books, 2017. ISBN 9781568585321, OCLC 961457621^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}
• Malek, Alia; Bullwinkel, Dave; Bullwinkel, Rita, eds. (2024-12-12). Aftershocks. Contemporary Syrian Prose. San Francisco: McSweeney's. ISBN 978-1963270044.

References

1. Snyder, Julie (February 1999). "Alumni Notes". Johns Hopkins Magazine.
2. "Alia Malek." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2010. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000198422/BIC?u=lom_umichdearb&sid=summon&xid=44ca945e. Accessed 11 Apr. 2024.
3. Tcacik, Christina (March 10, 2017). "Baltimore native Alia Malek endures war-torn Syria to tell of 'Home That Was Our Country'". The Baltimore Sun.
4. Spalding, Emily (November 21, 2016). "Q&A: Alia Malek, reporter and civil rights lawyer". The Daily Princetonian.
5. Malek, Alia (2025-01-26). "Opinion | What Did the World Learn From Syria?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
6. Granberry, Michael (November 7, 2016). "Syrian-American author Alia Malek captures Dallas' $50,000 Hiett Prize in the Humanities". Dallas Morning News.
7. "Syrian-American author Alia Malek captures Dallas' $50,000 Hiett Prize in the Humanities". Dallas News. 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
8. "The Home That Was Our Country, A Personal & Political Memoir of Syria - The Aerogram". The Aerogram. 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
9. Tkacik, Christina. "Baltimore native Alia Malek endures war-torn Syria to tell of 'Home That Was Our Country'". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
10. "The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria". KING. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
11. "New Book Focuses On The 'Humanity Of Syria' Lost In The War". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
12. "The pain of losing Syria: On Alia Malek's The Home That Was Our Country". Mada Masr. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
13. "Book review: Alia Malek's The Home That Was Our Country mirrors the tragedy of Syria". The National. Retrieved 2018-02-23.

External links

• Alia Malek on Twitter
• Appearances on C-SPAN