Curriculum Vitae

Selected Publications:

Books

Magazines

  • (forthcoming)  “Touring the Walls,” Condé Nast Traveller,  July 2013,  London, U.K.
  • (forthcoming) “Reconsidering Tijuana,”  Up!,  Spring 2013,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Weightless in Exile,” Alberta Views,  May 2013,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “On Edges,”  Canadian Geographic Travel,  May 2013,  Ottawa, Ontario
  • “Juggling Act,”  Eighteen Bridges,  Spring 2013,  Edmonton, Alberta
  • “In Holy Land, a different kind of sanctuary,”  The Globe and Mail,  November 2012,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “The Archivist,”  Swerve Magazine,  October 2012,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Farming the Monsoon: A Return to Traditional O’odham Foods,”  Gastronomica,  Summer 2012,  Williamstown, MA
  • “A Hymn in Aramaic,”  Alberta Views,  May 2012,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Politics 2.0 – Naheed Nenshi and the Power of Social Engagement,” Reader’s Digest Canada,  May 2012,  Montreal, Quebec
  • “A Story of Bread and Love,” Swerve Magazine,  April 2012,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “The Horologist: Doug Sinclair,”  Swerve Magazine,  February 2012,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “How to Write a Love Letter,”  Reader’s Digest Canada,  February 2012,  Montreal, Quebec
  • “Sand Blast,”  Impact Magazine,  January/February 2012,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “The Great Wall of Montreal,”  Geist,  Fall 2011,  Vancouver, B.C.
  • “Congress in Recess,“  EnRoute,  October 2011,  Montreal, Quebec
  • “It’s a Small World,”  Swerve Magazine,  March 2011,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Memento Mirmy,”  The Walrus,  January/February 2011,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “Fatherhood,”  Alberta Views,  November 2010,  Calgary, Alberta (also condensed in Reader’s Digest Canada,  June 2011,  Montreal, Quebec)
  • “An ‘Ungroup’ of Happy Campers,” Swerve Magazine,  October 2010,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Fellow Traveler,”  Eighteen Bridges,  October 2010,  Edmonton, Alberta
  • “Ritual Tourist,” Afar,  September/October 2010,  San Francisco, California
  • “The Zookeeper,” Alberta Views,  July 2010,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Big Night in Forest Lawn,”  Swerve Magazine,  June 2010,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Speaking Volumes,”  Swerve Magazine,  April 2010,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Bird Calling,”  The Walrus,  March 2010,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “Life Through a New Lens,”  U Magazine,  Winter 2010,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Wall of Shame,”  Geist,  Autumn 2009,  Vancouver, B.C.
  • “From Their Kitchens with Love,”  Swerve Magazine,  September 2009,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Books not Bombs,”  Maisonneuve,  Autumn 2009,  Montreal, Quebec
  • “Reconsidering Tangier,”  Westworld Magazine,  September 2009,  Edmonton, Alberta.
  • “Amman for All Seasons,”  EnRoute Magazine, February 2009,  Montreal, Quebec
  • “Hair Apparent,”  EnRoute Magazine,  December 2008,  Montreal, Quebec
  • “Cross to Bear,”  The Walrus,  October 2008,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “Honeymooning in Georgia,”  Swerve Magazine,  May 2008,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Iftar at Damascus Gate,”  April 2008,  The Walrus,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “Persian Poetry Club,”  Swerve Magazine,  October 2007,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “The Boxer: Albert Onolunose,”  Swerve Magazine,  September 2007,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “No Place for a Honeymoon,” The Walrus,  September 2007,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “Sufi Gourmet,”  The Walrus,  July 2007,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “Turkish Delight,”  EnRoute,  June 2007,  Montreal, Quebec
  • “City Insider: Istanbul,”  The Globe and Mail,  October 2006,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “Little Boys’ Family Reunion,”  The Walrus,  September 2006,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “City Insider: Jerusalem,”  The Globe and Mail,  April 2006,  Toronto, Ontario
  • “The Mystery of the Chinese Menu,”  Avenue,  January 2005,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Before the Fall,”  EnRoute,   December 2004,   Montreal, Quebec
  • “Waiter Confidential,”  Avenue,  March 2003,  Calgary, Alberta
  • “Jiddah’s Jerusalem,”  Cairo Times,  Volume 4,  Issue 1,  2-8 March 2000,  Cairo, Egypt

Literary Journals

  • “Lion Hearts,”  Prism International,  Volume 41:2,  Winter 2003,  Vancouver, British Columbia
  • “Leaving Mauritania,”  Prism International,  Volume 39:3,  Spring 2001,  Vancouver, British Columbia
  • “Bone Etchings and Blood Tattoos: Letters from Niger,”  Event,  Volume 29:3,  2001,  New Westminster, British Columbia  (anthologized by Harcourt Canada in Elements of English 12)
  • “Cinnamon Leaves: Letters from Ghana,” Prairie Fire,  Volume 21,  Number 3,  Autumn 2000,  Winnipeg, Manitoba

Accolades:

  • Finalist,  2013 The City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize for Walls:Travels Along the Barricades
  • Finalist, 2013 Alberta Readers’ Choice Award for Walls:Travels Along the Barricades
  • Winner, 2013 James H. Gray Award for Short Nonfiction, for “A Hymn in Aramaic”
  • Winner,  2013 Wilfred Eggleston Prize for Walls:Travels Along the Barricades
  • Winner,  2013 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, for Walls:Travels Along the Barricades
  • Semi-finalist,  2013 Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, for Walls:Travels Along the Barricades
  • Semi-finalist,  2013 British Columbia National Award for Non-Fiction, for Walls:Travels Along the Barricades
  • Finalist, 2011 National Magazine Awards, for “Fatherhood.”
  • Finalist, 2011 Western Magazine Awards, for “Fatherhood.”
  • Finalist, 2010 National Magazine Awards, for “Wall of Shame.”
  • Winner, 2009 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award, for “Tindouf.”
  • Finalist, 2007 Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction, for Poets and Pahlevans: A Journey Into the Heart of Iran.
  • Winner, 2007 Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-fiction, for Poets and Pahlevans: A Journey Into the Heart of Iran.
  • Finalist, 2006 W. O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize, for Poets and Pahlevans: A Journey Into the Heart of Iran.
  • Finalist, 2006 Adventure Travel category of the Banff Mountain Book Festival Competition, for Poets and Pahlevans: A Journey Into the Heart of Iran.
  • Winner, 2005 Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award, for “Poets and Pahlevans: Travels in Iran”.
  • Finalist, 2004 Western Magazine Awards, for “Waiter Confidential.”
  • Finalist, 2003 Adventure Travel category of the Banff Mountain Book Festival Competition, for Harmattan: Wind Across West Africa.
  • Finalist, 2003 Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-fiction, for Harmattan: Wind Across West Africa.
  • Winner, 2003 Henry Kreisel Award for Best First Book, for Harmattan: Wind Across West Africa.
  • Winner, 2002 Maclean-Hunter Endowment for Creative Nonfiction, for “Lionhearts.”
  • Finalist, 2002 Western Magazine Awards, for “Leaving Mauritania”
  • Finalist, 2001 National Magazine Awards, for “Bone Etchings and Blood Tattoos: Letters from Niger.”
  • Finalist, 2001 Western Magazine Awards, for “Bone Etchings and Blood Tattoos: Letters from Niger.”
  • Finalist, 2001 Western Magazine Awards, for “Cinnamon Leaves: Letters from Ghana.”
  • Winner, 2000 Event Creative Non-Fiction Contest #13, for “Bone Etchings and Blood Tattoos: Letters from Niger.”

Positions held:

  • Writer-in-Residence at the Palestine Writing Workshop, Birzeit (June 2012)
  • Writer-in-Residence at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre, Calgary (March and April 2012)
  • TEDxCalgary Speaker (June 2011)
  • Weekend Intensive workshop instructor for Elsewhere: The Art of Travel Writing at the Alexandra Writers Centre (September 2010)
  • Writer-in-Residence of the 2010 Calgary Folk Music Festival
  • 2009-2010 Markin-Flanagan Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary
  • “Speaking Volumes,”  Swerve Magazine,  April 2010,  Calgary, Alberta