Wajahat Ali
(US, 1980) is an American Muslim with Pakistani forebears. He writes plays, essays, sketches and works as a solicitor, blogger and journalist. He acquired fame with the first comprehensive play about American Muslims after 9/11, the exceptionally funny tragicomedy The Domestic Crusaders, which premiered in 2005 and was published as a book in 2010. His essays appear in The Guardian and The Huffington Post, among others. Wajahat Ali was proclaimed influential 'Muslim American Artist’ and in 2008 and 2010 was invited to the annual White House Ramadan dinner. He is seen as ‘Muslim leader of the future’ owing to his journalistic work and took part in the ‘Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow’ conference in Qatar. He also researches Islamophobia in the US and was the first author of Fear Inc, the Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America, published by the Center for American Progress.
Past events
VPRO De Avonden Live: Mohammed Hanif and Wajahat Ali
Live radio. The whole evening Jeroen van Kan and Maarten Westerveen interview the writers of the festival. In English.
Around the World with Umar - LOL
Are writers present-day jesters and do they get away with mockery, as long as what they say is meant in jest? Three Pakistani writers, Wajahat Ali, Mohammed Hanif and Umar Mirza, cross swords, or rather: words, on this topic. With a humorous performance by Rodaan Al Galidi and music by the Iranian percussionist Mohammad Reza Mortazawi. English spoken.
