Meet the Iraqi writer who left his home to find lost love in Seattle
Mortada Gzar tells his story filled with heart, heartache and humor in his new memoir, I m in Seattle, Where Are You? #newdaynw Author: Danielle Pascual, New Day Northwest Published: 10:00 AM PDT April 29, 2021 Updated: 12:17 PM PDT April 29, 2021
SEATTLE Before coming to the U.S., award-winning writer and filmmaker Mortada Gzar spent his childhood in war-zone Iraq. Now, he s sharing his incredible life story in a new memoir, I m in Seattle, Where Are You? . It chronicles his self-discovery as a gay man facing rejection by his own society, and how he made the decision to emerge into a new world to find lost love. He joins New Day NW to discuss the book, how he reflects on these experiences, and more.
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Bookshop Iraqi novelist Gzar (My Beautiful Cult) unfurls an exquisite story of life and lost love in this sweeping memoir. Raised in Basra, Iraq, Gzar spent his youth collecting scrap metal to sell for money while hiding his homosexuality, as, in Iraqi culture, gay men were often murdered. He recounts stories of violence, such as his transgender friend Mahiya, whom soldiers stalked slowly for weeks then âkilled. on the spot. She was in the wrong place, dressed in the wrong clothes.â While attending the University of Baghdad in the mid-2000s, Gzar met an African American GI named Morise; they began a clandestine romance and vowed to reunite in Seattle after Moriseâs tour ended. However, they quickly lost touch. Gzar immigrated to the United States in 2016 to attend the Iowa International Writing Program and, upon completion, began his search for Morise. In Seattle, Gzar befriended members of the HIV positive community, who aided in his quest. Gzarâs nonlinea
Our Favorite International Reads of 2020 (and What We’ll Be Reading in 2021)
Editor
This year, I m keeping my recommendations to the Southern Cone, perhaps out of the wistful recollection that as we face gray, blustery afternoons here in New York, warmer climes hold elsewhere.
Daniel Tunnard s
Escapes(Unnamed Press), set in a world in which competitive Scrabble is a globally televised craze under the thumb of the Scrafia (yes, a Scrabble mafia), is an uproarious novel staked on the final encounter between former world champs Florence Satine and Buenaventura Escobar in Argentina s Tigre Delta. Told from the alternating viewpoints of Satine and Escobar as they seek to flee the Scrafia s long arm, this clever novel reads something like the imagined result had Piglia turned his attentions to competitive board games. Tunnard s book is a satisfying read that takes Alfred Mosher Butt s tame pastime and turns it into a brisk, riveting jaunt across languages, crime scenes, and