… as one of six “damn good” semi-finalists

It’s not just exciting because Cheryl Strayed is the author of the wildly successful memoir Wild, made into the movie with Reese Witherspoon, and erstwhile contributor to The Rumpus. It’s not just because she said that I (and the other five finalists) did “damn good” work.

The work in question is a short memoir, excerpted from my book-length memoir-in-progress, Trusted With Their Children, titled “Sid Ismahan’s Brothers and Daughters.” This week I told a friend that this story is my “why I write what I write” manifesto, describing a critical turning point in how and why I interact as I do with the Arab Muslim world.

Watch this space, because “Sid Ismahan’s Brothers and Daughters” is forthcoming to CONSEQUENCE Magazine, “an international literary magazine published annually, focusing on the culture and consequences of war,” and there’s a blog post in the works telling more about what my relationship with sid Ismahan means to me.