Afghanistan’s Acclaimed Author, Qais Akbar Omar, to Speak on His Life and Remarkable Memoir

Qais Akbar Omar will speak on his acclaimed memoir, “A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story”

During the 1990s, when Afghanistan was under Taliban control, Qais Akbar Omar set out with his family on a journey to avoid the trauma and violence that put everyone in the country at risk.  He has now written what is widely agreed to be one of the most outstanding memoirs of life in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story.

Here are a few examples of what the critics have said of this work:

“If you read only one book this summer, make it this one…. Astonishing.”

– Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club

“Beautifully written, with the pacing and suspense of a novel … his richly detailed account of growing up in Afghanistan under the warlords and then the Taliban is deeply fulfilling, remarkable not least because he lived to tell the tale.”

— The Washington Post

“Mind-boggling yet matter-of-fact, A Fort of Nine Towers is the memoir of a childhood in ’90s Afghanistan – a riveting story of war as seen through a child’s eyes and summoned from an adult’s memory.”

— The New York Times Book Review

“A Fort of Nine Towers captures a time and a place unknown to most Americans … graphic, certainly, but it’s also sweet and funny and inspiring.”

— Linda Matchan, The Boston Globe

Time & location: Friday, November 22, 2013, 3:30 p.m. ,
Student Center, Back Bay Room, Bentley University, Waltham, MA, 02452

This talk is given in support of the educational programs of Pax Populi^®, the people-to-people peacemaking program of the 501(c)(3) Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization, Applied Ethics, Inc. (AE).  Pax Populi is a member of the Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility, which is a cosponsor of this event. It’s principal program is call Pax Populi Tutoring Services through which fluent English speakers at Bentley University and in various countries around the world provide English tutoring to students in Afghanistan via Skype.