Talks & Entertainment

At this in-person event (with a virtual attendance option), masks and proof of vaccination are required. Please review our health and safety protocols here.

Mohsin Hamid, the New York Times bestselling author of Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, saw his world change after September 11, 2001. A brown man with a Muslim name who had spent 18 of his 30 years in the West, Hamid was suddenly no longer “white enough.” That experience drove him to write The Last White Man, which follows the events set in motion when a man named Anders wakes up one day to find that his skin has suddenly turned dark and the reflection in the mirror seems like a stranger to him.

He shares his secret only with Oona—an old friend turned new lover—but soon, countless more are awakening in this new incarnation, uncertain how friends and family will react. Some panic, some see the transformations as the overturning of the long-established world order, and many, like Anders’ father and Oona’s mother, find loss and unease warring with profound love.

Hamid’s unforgettable characters find moments of intimacy and connection during unsettling times, raising provocative questions about race, identity, and tribalism, and exploring the full range of human response to a radically changing world.

Hamid will be in conversation with Wajahat Ali, a columnist for The Daily Beast, host of the podcast “Democracy-ish,” and author of Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American.

Thanks to our promotional partners: Make Space, PEN America, HIAS, and the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program