“Sometimes, like in science fiction and fantasy, [fiction] can help us imagine ‘what if’,” says Pulitzer Prize nominee Laila Lalami. “I think one of the things fiction can do is really give readers the opportunity to question history and reassess it.”
Lalami has written four fiction novels. In addition, she has now published a non-fiction work, Conditional Citizens. She has received multiple honors and awards for each of her books and collections. These include Best Book nominations, the Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, and a National Book Award for Fiction finalist nomination. In May, Lalami’s artistic contributions earned her a spot on Hayat’s “Ramadan Top 30 Illuminators” List.
The reflective author writes often about her native country, Morocco. She recalls feeling compelled to write about the “real” Morocco, the Morocco of her experiences, in order to dispel the exoticized notions of the place created by “surrogate storytellers.”
“I had always told stories, but now I wanted to be heard,” Lalami wrote, reflecting on her career and motivations for publishing her work.
Laila Lalami Explores Class, History, and Immigration
Lalami’s work focuses strongly on themes that she has felt personally, as a Moroccan and an American. Her books reflect on immigration and identity formation. One example of the “conditional citizenship” she discusses includes the phenomenon of hyphenating identities in the United States. For example, designating Lalami a “Moroccan-American.” Lalami cites this as an example and symptom of “conditional citizenship,” the primary subject of her memoir.
In 2005, Lalami published her first book, a collection of short stories titled Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. Her subsequent novel, Secret Son, was long-listed for the Orange Prize. These second novel focuses specifically on the coming-of-age story and exploration of social strata in Casablanca, Morocco.
Lalami’s third book, The Moor’s Account, truly launched the talented writer into the spotlight. This historical fiction epic earned her the American Book Award, Arab-American Book Award, and more, as well as a spot as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Her fourth novel explores the life of Moroccan immigrants in the United States and has been nominated as a “best book of 2019” in eight major publications, including Time, NPR, and Variety. Through the frame of a murder mystery, Lalami weaves in the experiences – positive and negative – of immigration, nostalgia, racism, and the modern meaning of the American Dream.
The Power of Language
Lalami was born in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Trilingual from an early age, Lalami speaks Moroccan Arabic, French, and Modern Standard Arabic. She went on to write her early works in French. However, she chose first to study linguistics, rather than enter immediately into a writing career. “Since I could not make a living from using words in a creative way, at least I would be able to do it by using them in an analytical way,” Lalami explains.
After earning her PhD, Lalami became a naturalized US citizen. She now lives in Los Angeles, teaching creative writing at the University of California, Riverside.
“Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America” by Laila Lalami
“In short, conditional citizens are Americans who cannot enjoy the full rights, liberties, and protections of citizenship because of arbitrary markers of identity,” explains Lalami in her essay Bright Stars, published in Harper’s Magazine.
In her latest book, Conditional Citizens, Lalami addresses the divide between citizenship and belonging for many immigrants. Though a citizen for many decades herself, she still notes ways in which her status is called into question, ways in which she is labeled “Moroccan-American”, as opposed to American. For others, “the idea of citizenship is below the surface,” she explains. “It’s not something that you ever think about in your everyday life.” But for immigrants, citizenship and belonging crop up in day-to-day interactions. Lalami explores these, and their ramifications, in her memoir.
Lalami tells Publishers Weekly that she wrote the book for her daughter. “When you think about the grand scheme of things, all of this is going to go away,” she says. “The only thing that’s going to last is the love that you have for one another.”
Pre-order Conditional Citizens on Amazon today.
