Mortada Gzar Discusses “I’m In Seattle, Where Are You?”

Gzar will appear in conversation with the book’s translator, William Hutchins. The conversation will be moderated by Christopher Merrill, Director of University of Iowa’s International Writing Program.

The event is presented in partnership with Seattle City of Literature, Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, University of Iowa International Writing Program, and Elliott Bay Book Company. This event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times.

Closed captioning will be available at the event. The program will be recorded and posted on SPL’s YouTube after the event.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

As the US occupation of Iraq rages, novelist Mortada Gzar, a student at the University of Baghdad, has a chance encounter with Morise, an African American soldier. It’s love at first sight, a threat to them both, and a moment of self-discovery. Challenged by society’s rejection and Morise’s return to the US, Mortada takes to the page to understand himself.

In his deeply affecting memoir, Mortada interweaves tales of his childhood work as a scrap-metal collector in a war zone and the indignities faced by openly gay artists in Iraq with his impossible love story and journey to the US. Marginalized by his own society, he is surprised to discover the racism he finds in a new one.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Iraqi novelist, filmmaker, journalist, and visual artist Mortada Gzar was born in Kuwait in 1982, grew up in Basra, Iraq, and now lives in Seattle, Washington. He earned a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Baghdad and was later a member of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa. Gzar is the author of four novels, a children’s book, and a short-story collection; he has illustrated two books for children. English translations of his work have appeared in Words Without Borders, World Literature Today, and Iraq + 100: The First Anthology of Science Fiction to Have Emerged from Iraq, and his journalism and political cartoons are featured in Arabic newspapers. Gzar’s animated films have been featured in international film festivals, his film Language was awarded a grant by the Doha Film Institute, and he created the Seattle Arab Film Festival hosted by the Northwest Film Forum.