Photo: Xandrr / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Lalami is a writer whose biography itself reads like a thesis on movement and belonging. Born in Rabat, trained in linguistics in the UK, then earning a doctorate in the United States before turning to fiction, she crosses borders on the page the way she has in life. The Moor's Account, which recovers a silenced historical voice, strikes me as deeply continuous with her own migratory experience. Backed by an American Book Award and a Guggenheim, she writes from the outsider's vantage with unusual clarity. I value authors who build a home out of language, and she is exactly that kind of essential, border-spanning voice.
Overview
Laila Lalami (Arabic: ليلى العلمي, born 1968) is a Moroccan-American novelist, essayist, and professor. After earning her licence ès lettres degree in Morocco, she received a fellowship to study in the United Kingdom (UK), where she earned an MA in linguistics. In 1992 Lalami moved to the United States, where she completed a PhD in linguistics at the University of Southern California.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Laila Lalami
- Name (Japanese)
- ライラ・ララミ
- Reading
- らいら・ららみ
- Born
- February 24, 1968 (age 58)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Monkey
- Origin
- Rabat, Rabat Prefecture, Morocco
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- novelist / writer / journalist / essayist / university teacher
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University College London
Awards & achievements
- Fulbright Scholarship
- 2015 American Book Awards
- 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | The Moor's Account | — |
6. Links
Novelist — see all → · Writer — see all → · More people from Morocco →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.