In October, 2008 — 3 years before the Syrian war — Syrian short story writer and poet Osama Alomar moved to Chicago in hopes of publishing his work, only to realize that surviving in America meant hard work. He found himself driving a cab from the crack of dawn to the end of day, while working with his friend and translator, C.J. Collins, to translate some of his works from Arabic to English.  When the war broke out in 2011, Alomar lost his home along with several manuscripts and unfinished novels. He has not returned to Syria since. His homesickness influenced his current work-in-progress — a novel about the tragedies of the Syrian war.

Alomar is known for his very short story writing style—al-qisa al-qasira jiddan—also adopted by several Syrian and Lebanese authors, such as Khalil Gibran,  his inspiration. Alomar will be joining us to discuss his latest work, Teeth of the Comb and Other Short Stories, a compilation of his stories translated into English. The official book reading will be at 7 p.m. tonight at The Book Cellar on 4736-38 N Lincoln Ave.

Our global citizen, Nari Safavi, will also join us to give you a couple events to help you plan your international weekend!