SFU Library One Book One SFU: Son of Elsewhere

Simon Fraser University Library is pleased to announce this year's pick for One Book One SFU: Elamin Abdelmahmoud's memoir Son of Elsewhere.

Join us on January 26, 2023, at 7pm PT, for a free event featuring Elamin in conversation with author Jen Sookfong Lee.

"It is astounding how accurately and honestly Elamin Abdelmahmoud manages to map the strange territory between cultures that so many migrants call home. The interlinked essays in this collection, which filter the immigrant experience through everything from country music to professional-wrestling fan fiction, manage to pull off a rare trick—at once sincere, ironic, hilarious, and profound. Son of Elsewhere is the sort of book that can only come from a writer both incisive and open-hearted. Abdelmahmoud, to our great fortune, is both." -- Omar El Akkad, author of What Strange Paradise

"His writing feels like a magic trick: every page is charming, funny, and yet painful, a collection that presses on your most tender feelings like a bruise yet to heal. Son of Elsewhere is a salve." -- Scaachi Koul, author of One Day We’ll All Be Dead And None Of This Will Matter

Read the book: Son of Elsewhere is available for borrowing at all three branches of SFU Library.

Elamin Abdelmahmoud is a culture writer for BuzzFeed News and host of CBC’s pop culture show Pop Chat, and author of the bestselling memoir Son of Elsewhere. He was a founding co-host of the CBC Politics podcast Party Lines, and he is a contributor to The National’s At Issue panel. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, the Globe and Mail, and others. When he gets a chance, he writes bad tweets.

Jen Sookfong Lee was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her books include The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, The End of East, The Shadow List, and Finding Home. Her most recent book, Superfan, is a memoir that explores her lifetime obsession with pop culture. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press and co-hosts the literary podcast, Can’t Lit.

Doors open at 6:15PM. As this SFU Library event is free, it is our policy to overbook. In case of a full program, your ticket reservation may not guarantee admission. We recommend you arrive early.

Please join us after the event for a reception and book signing with Elamin and Jen. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Djavad Mowafaghian cinema is located at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, a brief walk from Waterfront station and numerous bus stops. Bike stalls are available outside. Nearby parking is available at 500 & 400 W. Cordova St.

The building is accessible at street level on the Hastings side or via a ramp on the Cordova Street Courtyard side (across from JJ Bean Coffee). There are two ramp entry points, one is located against the building, near the entrance to the Woodward’s Westbank Atrium (which houses London Drugs and Nesters) and one is located against the building, beside the alley. Both the Hastings doors and the Cordova Courtyard doors can be operated by accessibility buttons located beside the doorways.

The venue has a gender-neutral washroom. All floors within the building are wheelchair accessible and serviced by elevators.

If you have any requests, concerns, or questions regarding accessibility at this event, please contact Chloe Riley by email: [email protected]

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SFU Library, SFU Vancity Office of Community Engagement, SFU Black Caucus, Pulpfiction Books   

Host or Publisher SFU Library