Santa Clara Public Library

*2021 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Finalist
*2021 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Award, Finalist
*2021 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, Finalist
*2020 Short Story Prize, Longlist

On March 18th, 2022 at 11AM (PDT) on Zoom we will speak with the author of Alligator and Other Stories, Dima Alzayat! In her book she captures luminously how it feels to be ‘other’: as a Syrian, as an Arab, as an immigrant, as a woman. Each story of the nine stories is a snapshot of those moments when unusual circumstances suddenly distinguish us from our neighbors, when our difference is thrown into relief.

Here are ‘dangerous’ women transgressing, missing children in 1970s New York, a family who were once Syrian but have now lost their name, and a young woman about to discover the hollowness of the American dream. At its center lies ‘Alligator’: a remarkable compilation of real and invented sources, which rescues from history the story of a Syrian American couple who were murdered at the hands of the state.

Alzayat explores experiences that are startling and real, delivering an emotional punch that lingers long after reading.

Register for the online conversation here: https://santaclaraca-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m8cSa6pQTi2tvBs73lS6Lg

BIO: Dima Alzayat was born in Damascus, Syria, and grew up in San Jose, California. Her short story collection, Alligator and Other Stories (2020), was published by Two Dollar Radio (U.S.) and Picador (U.K.), and was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Award for Debut Short Story Collection, the 2021 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, and the 2021 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

She is the winner of the 2019 ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award, a 2018 Northern Writers’ Award, the 2017 Bristol Short Story Prize, the 2015 Bernice Slote Award, runner-up in the 2018 Deborah Rogers Award and the 2018 Zoetrope: All-Story Competition, and was Highly Commended in the 2013 Bridport Prize.

 Her stories have appeared on BBC Radio 4 and in Esquire, The Adroit Journal, Prairie Schooner, Bristol Short Story Award Anthology, Bridport Prize Anthology, and Enizagam. Her short story ‘In the Land of Kan’an’ was included in artist Jenny Holzer’s 2017 projection For Aarhus and was part of Holzer’s 2017 exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University.