Kamal Al-Solaylee

Notable work and positions

University of British Columbia, School of Journalism, Writing, and Media - Director and Professor
The Globe and Mail - National theatre critic (2003-c.2013)
Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), School of Journalism - Associate Professor (prior role)

Biography

Kamal Al-Solaylee is a Canadian journalist, author and academic who directs the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Born in Aden, his family went into exile in Beirut and Cairo following the British decolonization of Yemen in 1967. After a brief return to Yemen in his 20s, he moved to England, earning an MA in Twentieth Century British Fiction from Keele University in 1990 and a PhD in English Literature from the University of Nottingham in 1996, before relocating to Canada. He began his career as an arts and culture journalist in Toronto in 1997 and became national theatre critic at The Globe and Mail in 2003, later writing reviews and features on arts and politics for publications including the Toronto Star, National Post, The Walrus, Toronto Life, Quill & Quire and the Literary Review of Canada. He taught for fourteen years at Ryerson University's School of Journalism before joining UBC. His debut book, Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes (2012), won the Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for CBC's Canada Reads, the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Lambda Literary Award and the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Nonfiction. His second book, Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone) (2016), won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction and the Trillium Book Award. His third book, Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From, was published in 2021. He has reported from about 20 countries and has served on literary juries including the Giller Prize.

Career highlights

• Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes HarperCollins Canada, 2012 · Winner of the Toronto Book Award; finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and the Lambda Literary Award.
• Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone) HarperCollins Canada, 2016 · Winner of the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing; finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction and the Trillium Book Award.
• Gold Medal, National Magazine Awards 2019 · Won in the column category after two nominations.