This week on Storybound, we want to spotlight Omar El Akkad, whose novel “What Strange Paradise” recently won Canada's Giller Prize. Today, we’re re-airing his episode of Storybound, where he read an excerpt from the novel, as well as from "American War," backed by an original Storybound remix, sound design, and arrangement by Jude Brewer. Omar El Akkad is an author and journalist. He was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada as a teenager and now lives in the United States. The start of his journalism career coincided with the start of the war on terror, and over the following decade he reported from Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and many other locations around the world. His work earned a National Newspaper Award for Investigative Journalism and the Goff Penny Award for young journalists. His debut novel "American War" is an international bestseller and has been translated into thirteen languages. It won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award, the Oregon Book Award for fiction, and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. It was listed as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Washington Post, GQ, NPR, Esquire and was selected by the BBC as one of 100 novels that changed our world. His latest novel "What Strange Paradise" won the Giller Prize and is on the long list for a 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize. Support Storybound by supporting our sponsors: Norton brings you Michael Lewis' The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, a nonfiction thriller that pits a band of medical visionaries against a wall of ignorance as the COVID-19 pandemic looms. Scribd combines the latest technology with the best human minds to recommend content that you'll love. Go to try.scribd.com/storybound to get 60 days of Scribd for free. Acorn.tv is the largest commercial free British streaming service with hundreds of exclusive shows from around the world. Try acorn.tv for free for 30 days by going to acorn.tv and using promo code Storybound. Match with a licensed therapist when you go to talkspace.com and get $100 off your first month with the promo code STORYBOUND Visit betterhelp.com/Storybound and join the over 2,000,000 people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional ButcherBox sources their meat from partners with the highest standards for quality. Go to ButcherBox.com/STORYBOUND to receive a FREE turkey in your first box. Storybound is hosted by Jude Brewer and brought to you by The Podglomerate and Lit Hub Radio. Let us know what you think of the show on Instagram and Twitter @storyboundpod. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to Storybound, you might enjoy reading, writing, and storytelling. We'd like to suggest you also try the History of Literature or Book Dreams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices