15 Facts About Laila Lalami

Laila Lalami is a Moroccan-American novelist, essayist, and professor.

In 1992 Lalami moved to the United States, where she completed a PhD in linguistics at the University of Southern California.

Laila Lalami was born in a working-class family in Rabat, Morocco.

Laila Lalami spoke Moroccan Arabic at home, and learned Standard Arabic and French in elementary school.

Laila Lalami earned her licence es lettres in English from Mohammed V University in Rabat.

Laila Lalami had chosen the field of linguistics in order to be involved with the study of language, even in analysis.

Laila Lalami was influenced by the work of Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said.

Laila Lalami became aware of the code-switching followed by her and her family, and some upper-class native Moroccans, in their transitions between the two languages.

Laila Lalami began writing fiction and nonfiction in English in 1996.

Laila Lalami's second book, the novel Secret Son, is a coming-of-age story set in the slums of Casablanca.

Laila Lalami later led expeditions as the first black explorer of America.

Laila Lalami's next book, Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, is a collection of essays on the theme of American identity and citizenship.

Laila Lalami has received an Oregon Literary Arts grant, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Laila Lalami was selected in 2009 by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.

Laila Lalami is a distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and a Harvard Radcliffe Fellow.