When: 12 September 2010
Where: Levantine Cultural Center, CA
Details:
Novelist and screenwriter Kamran Pasha will be reading from, signing, and discussing his newly published historical novel, Shadow of the Swords (Simon & Schuster's Atria Books, 2010), as well as his first novel, Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam (Washington Square Press. April 2009), at the Levantine Cultural Center on September 12, 2010 (note, dated changed from 9/9). The American Muslim has described Pasha's fictional account of the Prophet Muhammad's teenage wife as "pivotal in our communications about Islam," while Reza Aslan, author of the highly-acclaimed, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, has said of Pasha's work, "a brilliant, beautiful historical novel unlike anything I've read in years."
"A ripping, action-crammed yarn, Shadow of the Swords puts us smack into the Crusades, making this period new and visceral and riveting. Kamran Pasha is a powerful new voice in historical fiction."
-- Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of Gates of Fire
At the age of three, Pasha moved from Karachi, Pakistan, his birthplace, to the primarily Hasidic Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park, New York. After graduating from Dartmouth with a degree in Comparative Religion, he became a journalist at the Wall Street Journal, where he subsequently interviewed top world figures such as former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori. Pasha tenrolled at Cornell Law School and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. With his joint JD/MBA degrees, he began working as an attorney at the prestigious New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. He served as the writer and co-producer of the Emmy-nominated terrorism drama, Sleeper Cell. Pasha also holds an MFA from UCLA film school. He is a writer and producer of NBC's series Kings, which is a modern day retelling of the Biblical tale of King David. Previously he served as a writer on NBC's remake of Bionic Woman. Read his blog. His web site.
Kamran Pasha, literary reading/book signing, Levantine Cultural Center, 5998 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90035 (street parking, located between Fairfax and La Cienega). Suggested donation $10 ($15 with signed book), light refreshments included. Seating limited, RSVPs suggested: 310.657.5511.
About Shadow of the Swords
An epic saga of love and war, Shadow of the Swords: An Epic Novel of the Crusades tells the story of the Crusades—from the Muslim perspective. Saladin, a Muslim sultan, finds himself pitted against King Richard the Lionheart as Islam and Christianity clash against each other, launching a conflict that still echoes today.
In the midst of a brutal and unforgiving war, Saladin finds forbidden love in the arms of Miriam, a beautiful Jewish girl with a tragic past. But when King Richard captures Miriam, the two most powerful men on Earth must face each other in a personal battle that will determine the future of the woman they both love-and of all civilization.
About Mother of the Believers
In Aisha, the youngest wife of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, lies a paragon of the Muslim woman, not just by virtue of being the Mother of the Believers, but by being a leading figure in shaping the history of Islam thanks to her multifaceted attributes. Aisha caught the attention of screenwriter Kamran Pasha who delivers here an idiosyncratic debut novel, illustrating the birth of Islam through rarely examined viewpoint of Aisha, the youngest wife of the Prophet Muhammad. Mother of the Believers: A Novel of the Birth of Islam (Washington Square Press. April 2009), is written in epic style-narrating the heroic deeds of legendary figures whose fervent faith and bounteous sacrifice rocketed a religion, an empire, a culture, and a language into time.
A well-researched work of historical fiction, Pasha's novel is intended, according to his introductory note, for "Westerners as a glimpse of the richness that exists within the Muslim historical tradition...to learn more about Islam and draw their own conclusions."
More information here.
