The iconic Singapore River bathed in the warm golden glow of a Saturday evening set the stage for a cosy gathering of book connoisseurs for An Evening with Dr Kamal Al-Solaylee.
The event was hosted by NUS Alumni Relations at Privé, Asian Civilisations Museum, on 19 November 2022, in partnership with the Singapore Writers Festival.
A Canadian journalist and award-winning author of three non-fiction books,
Intolerable (2012);
Brown (2016); and
Return (2021), Dr Kamal holds a PhD in English from Nottingham University and is the director of the School of Journalism, Writing and Media at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Dr Kamal took time out of his busy schedule to join alumni for some pre-lecture wine and bites, and chatted with them in an intimate setting. Participants took the opportunity to ask Dr Kamal their burning questions and pick his literary mind, with some even getting their personal copies of his book signed.
Participants then adjourned to the lecture session, hosted by the Singapore Writers Festival, where Dr Kamal shared more about what draws us back to our origins. Dr Kamal spoke in detail about his personal experience with attempting to unravel the underlying emotions that compels one to long for a sense of home and understand a culture that feels altogether foreign and familiar at the same time.