Kamal Al-Solaylee

Director and Professor
School of Journalism, Writing, and Media
location_on Sing Tao 111A
Research / Teaching Area
Education

PhD in English Literature, Nottingham University, England, 1996
MA in Twentieth Century British Fiction, Keele University, 1990


About

Kamal Al-Solaylee is the author of the national bestselling memoir Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes which won the 2013 Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for the CBC’s Canada Reads, the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Lambda Literary Award for memoir/biography and the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Nonfiction. His second book, Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone), was hailed as “brilliant” by The Walrus magazine and “essential reading” by the Globe and Mail. It was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for Nonfiction, the Trillium Book Award and won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Return, his third book of nonfiction, was published in September 2021.

His nonfiction books mix geopolitics, personal narrative with deep reporting. He has reported from 20 countries around the world, including Taiwan, Qatar, France, Britain, Jamaica, Malaysia, Egypt, Israel, Spain, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the United States.

Kamal began his career as an arts and culture journalist in 1997 in Toronto. In 2003 he became national theatre critic at the Globe and Mail. He has written reviews and features on arts and politics for all major Canadian publications, including Toronto StarNational PostThe WalrusToronto LifeQuill & Quire and Literary Review of Canada

He’s a sought-after public speaker conferences and literary festivals in Canada and beyond and is a regular contributor to various TV and radio programs on Canadian and international networks. He has served on several literary juries, including the Giller Prize, Canada’s top fiction award, and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. 

He’s a two-time nominee for Canada’s National Magazine Awards in the column category, winning the Gold medal in 2019. He’s also a finalist for the Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism in 2018.

He holds a PhD in English from Nottingham University. For the past 14 years, he’s been a professor at Ryerson University’s School of Journalism. He has taught at the theatre departments of both York University and Waterloo University, Ontario. 


Teaching


Research

Literary nonfiction, race and representation, migration studies


Publications

I: Books

  • Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From, HarperCollins Canada, forthcoming (Sept. 7, 2021) 
  • Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone), HarperCollins Canada, 2016
  • Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes, HarperCollins Canada, 2012

II: Books Edited

  • Tonight at the Tarragon: A Critic’s Anthology, Playwrights Canada Press, 2011
  • Best Canadian Essays 2010 (with Alex Boyd), Tightrope Books, 2010
  • East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood (with Norman Page), Everyman Paperbacks, 1994
  • Mad Monkton and Other Stories (with Norman Page), Oxford University Press, 1993

III: Chapters in Books

  • “Tongue-tied,” Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language, Book*Hug Press, forthcoming (Oct. 26, 2021)
  • “Hanna and Saeid’s Story,”Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer, Coach House Press, 2017
  • “From Bikinis to Burkas: A Yemeni Memoir,” Canadian Content 7th Edition, Nelson Education Ltd., 2011
  • “Too Poor to Send Flowers: The State of Canadian Theatre,” Best Canadian Essays 2009, Tightrope Books, 2009
  • “Theatre and Dance in Toronto,” Time Out Guide to Toronto, Penguin Books Ltd., 2002

IV: Select Journalism (2012-2020)


Awards

  • Winner: Gold Medal, Columns, National Magazine Awards, 2019, for “Points of Departure” columns in Sharp magazine
  • Winner: Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, Writers’ Trust of Canada, 2017 for Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone)
  • Winner: Most Inspiring Professor, Ryerson Journalism Course Union, 2014
  • Winner: Toronto Book Award, City of Toronto, 2013 for Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

 

  • Finalist: National Magazine Awards, Columns, 2020, for “Points of Departure,” Sharp magazine
  • Finalist: The Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism, 2018, for “Unwelcome to Canada,” The Walrus
  • Finalist: Trillium Book Awards, Ontario Creates, 2017 (Brown)
  • Finalist: Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction, 2016 (Brown)
  • Finalist: Canada Reads, CBC, 2015 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Edna Staebler Prize for Creative Nonfiction, 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir/Biography, Lambda Literary (U.S.), 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: OLA Forest of Reading Evergreen Award, Ontario Library Association, 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, Writers’ Trust of Canada, 2012 (Intolerable)
  • Honourable Mention: Patrick O’Neill Award for Best Edited Collection of Plays or Essays in Canada, Canadian Association of Theatre Research, 2013, for Tonight at the Tarragon: A Critic’s Anthology

Graduate Supervision

Supervised in excess of 22 MRPs at Ryerson University’s Master of Journalism program


Kamal Al-Solaylee

Director and Professor
School of Journalism, Writing, and Media
location_on Sing Tao 111A
Research / Teaching Area
Education

PhD in English Literature, Nottingham University, England, 1996
MA in Twentieth Century British Fiction, Keele University, 1990


About

Kamal Al-Solaylee is the author of the national bestselling memoir Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes which won the 2013 Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for the CBC’s Canada Reads, the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Lambda Literary Award for memoir/biography and the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Nonfiction. His second book, Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone), was hailed as “brilliant” by The Walrus magazine and “essential reading” by the Globe and Mail. It was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for Nonfiction, the Trillium Book Award and won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Return, his third book of nonfiction, was published in September 2021.

His nonfiction books mix geopolitics, personal narrative with deep reporting. He has reported from 20 countries around the world, including Taiwan, Qatar, France, Britain, Jamaica, Malaysia, Egypt, Israel, Spain, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the United States.

Kamal began his career as an arts and culture journalist in 1997 in Toronto. In 2003 he became national theatre critic at the Globe and Mail. He has written reviews and features on arts and politics for all major Canadian publications, including Toronto StarNational PostThe WalrusToronto LifeQuill & Quire and Literary Review of Canada

He’s a sought-after public speaker conferences and literary festivals in Canada and beyond and is a regular contributor to various TV and radio programs on Canadian and international networks. He has served on several literary juries, including the Giller Prize, Canada’s top fiction award, and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. 

He’s a two-time nominee for Canada’s National Magazine Awards in the column category, winning the Gold medal in 2019. He’s also a finalist for the Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism in 2018.

He holds a PhD in English from Nottingham University. For the past 14 years, he’s been a professor at Ryerson University’s School of Journalism. He has taught at the theatre departments of both York University and Waterloo University, Ontario. 


Teaching


Research

Literary nonfiction, race and representation, migration studies


Publications

I: Books

  • Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From, HarperCollins Canada, forthcoming (Sept. 7, 2021) 
  • Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone), HarperCollins Canada, 2016
  • Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes, HarperCollins Canada, 2012

II: Books Edited

  • Tonight at the Tarragon: A Critic’s Anthology, Playwrights Canada Press, 2011
  • Best Canadian Essays 2010 (with Alex Boyd), Tightrope Books, 2010
  • East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood (with Norman Page), Everyman Paperbacks, 1994
  • Mad Monkton and Other Stories (with Norman Page), Oxford University Press, 1993

III: Chapters in Books

  • “Tongue-tied,” Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language, Book*Hug Press, forthcoming (Oct. 26, 2021)
  • “Hanna and Saeid’s Story,”Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer, Coach House Press, 2017
  • “From Bikinis to Burkas: A Yemeni Memoir,” Canadian Content 7th Edition, Nelson Education Ltd., 2011
  • “Too Poor to Send Flowers: The State of Canadian Theatre,” Best Canadian Essays 2009, Tightrope Books, 2009
  • “Theatre and Dance in Toronto,” Time Out Guide to Toronto, Penguin Books Ltd., 2002

IV: Select Journalism (2012-2020)


Awards

  • Winner: Gold Medal, Columns, National Magazine Awards, 2019, for “Points of Departure” columns in Sharp magazine
  • Winner: Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, Writers’ Trust of Canada, 2017 for Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone)
  • Winner: Most Inspiring Professor, Ryerson Journalism Course Union, 2014
  • Winner: Toronto Book Award, City of Toronto, 2013 for Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

 

  • Finalist: National Magazine Awards, Columns, 2020, for “Points of Departure,” Sharp magazine
  • Finalist: The Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism, 2018, for “Unwelcome to Canada,” The Walrus
  • Finalist: Trillium Book Awards, Ontario Creates, 2017 (Brown)
  • Finalist: Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction, 2016 (Brown)
  • Finalist: Canada Reads, CBC, 2015 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Edna Staebler Prize for Creative Nonfiction, 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir/Biography, Lambda Literary (U.S.), 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: OLA Forest of Reading Evergreen Award, Ontario Library Association, 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, Writers’ Trust of Canada, 2012 (Intolerable)
  • Honourable Mention: Patrick O’Neill Award for Best Edited Collection of Plays or Essays in Canada, Canadian Association of Theatre Research, 2013, for Tonight at the Tarragon: A Critic’s Anthology

Graduate Supervision

Supervised in excess of 22 MRPs at Ryerson University’s Master of Journalism program


Kamal Al-Solaylee

Director and Professor
School of Journalism, Writing, and Media
location_on Sing Tao 111A
Research / Teaching Area
Education

PhD in English Literature, Nottingham University, England, 1996
MA in Twentieth Century British Fiction, Keele University, 1990

About keyboard_arrow_down

Kamal Al-Solaylee is the author of the national bestselling memoir Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes which won the 2013 Toronto Book Award and was a finalist for the CBC’s Canada Reads, the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Lambda Literary Award for memoir/biography and the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Nonfiction. His second book, Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone), was hailed as “brilliant” by The Walrus magazine and “essential reading” by the Globe and Mail. It was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for Nonfiction, the Trillium Book Award and won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Return, his third book of nonfiction, was published in September 2021.

His nonfiction books mix geopolitics, personal narrative with deep reporting. He has reported from 20 countries around the world, including Taiwan, Qatar, France, Britain, Jamaica, Malaysia, Egypt, Israel, Spain, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the United States.

Kamal began his career as an arts and culture journalist in 1997 in Toronto. In 2003 he became national theatre critic at the Globe and Mail. He has written reviews and features on arts and politics for all major Canadian publications, including Toronto StarNational PostThe WalrusToronto LifeQuill & Quire and Literary Review of Canada

He’s a sought-after public speaker conferences and literary festivals in Canada and beyond and is a regular contributor to various TV and radio programs on Canadian and international networks. He has served on several literary juries, including the Giller Prize, Canada’s top fiction award, and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award. 

He’s a two-time nominee for Canada’s National Magazine Awards in the column category, winning the Gold medal in 2019. He’s also a finalist for the Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism in 2018.

He holds a PhD in English from Nottingham University. For the past 14 years, he’s been a professor at Ryerson University’s School of Journalism. He has taught at the theatre departments of both York University and Waterloo University, Ontario. 

Teaching keyboard_arrow_down
Research keyboard_arrow_down

Literary nonfiction, race and representation, migration studies

Publications keyboard_arrow_down

I: Books

  • Return: Why We Go Back to Where We Come From, HarperCollins Canada, forthcoming (Sept. 7, 2021) 
  • Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone), HarperCollins Canada, 2016
  • Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes, HarperCollins Canada, 2012

II: Books Edited

  • Tonight at the Tarragon: A Critic’s Anthology, Playwrights Canada Press, 2011
  • Best Canadian Essays 2010 (with Alex Boyd), Tightrope Books, 2010
  • East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood (with Norman Page), Everyman Paperbacks, 1994
  • Mad Monkton and Other Stories (with Norman Page), Oxford University Press, 1993

III: Chapters in Books

  • “Tongue-tied,” Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language, Book*Hug Press, forthcoming (Oct. 26, 2021)
  • “Hanna and Saeid’s Story,”Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer, Coach House Press, 2017
  • “From Bikinis to Burkas: A Yemeni Memoir,” Canadian Content 7th Edition, Nelson Education Ltd., 2011
  • “Too Poor to Send Flowers: The State of Canadian Theatre,” Best Canadian Essays 2009, Tightrope Books, 2009
  • “Theatre and Dance in Toronto,” Time Out Guide to Toronto, Penguin Books Ltd., 2002

IV: Select Journalism (2012-2020)

Awards keyboard_arrow_down
  • Winner: Gold Medal, Columns, National Magazine Awards, 2019, for “Points of Departure” columns in Sharp magazine
  • Winner: Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, Writers’ Trust of Canada, 2017 for Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (to Everyone)
  • Winner: Most Inspiring Professor, Ryerson Journalism Course Union, 2014
  • Winner: Toronto Book Award, City of Toronto, 2013 for Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

 

  • Finalist: National Magazine Awards, Columns, 2020, for “Points of Departure,” Sharp magazine
  • Finalist: The Allan Slaight Prize for Journalism, 2018, for “Unwelcome to Canada,” The Walrus
  • Finalist: Trillium Book Awards, Ontario Creates, 2017 (Brown)
  • Finalist: Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction, 2016 (Brown)
  • Finalist: Canada Reads, CBC, 2015 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Edna Staebler Prize for Creative Nonfiction, 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir/Biography, Lambda Literary (U.S.), 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: OLA Forest of Reading Evergreen Award, Ontario Library Association, 2013 (Intolerable)
  • Finalist: Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, Writers’ Trust of Canada, 2012 (Intolerable)
  • Honourable Mention: Patrick O’Neill Award for Best Edited Collection of Plays or Essays in Canada, Canadian Association of Theatre Research, 2013, for Tonight at the Tarragon: A Critic’s Anthology
Graduate Supervision keyboard_arrow_down

Supervised in excess of 22 MRPs at Ryerson University’s Master of Journalism program