Conditional Citizens: Laila Lalami with Fatima Bhutto

The award-winning novelist asks: What does it mean to be American?

Being a citizen of this country is traditionally associated with certain rights, liberties, and protections. But accidents of birth—national origin, race, gender—can cast shadows over those advantages for certain segments of our citizenry, as well as their perceived Americanness. In her new book, Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, Pulitzer Prize finalist Laila Lalami uses her own journey from Moroccan immigrant to U.S. citizen to examine where the actual boundaries of Americanness lie. Exploring the enduring survival of white supremacy in legislation and culture, she argues that there exists a class of conditional citizens—the people America embraces with one arm and pushes away with the other.

Lalami speaks on her experience and her exploration of how we all belong to American culture with author Fatima Bhutto. 

LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the support of Library patrons and friends, as well as by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, and the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Laila Lalami was born in Rabat and educated in Morocco, Great Britain, and the United States. She is the author of four novels, including The Moor's Account, which won the American Book Award, the Arab-American Book Award, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her most recent work, The Other Americans, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Harper's, The Guardian, and The New York Times. Lalami is a professor of creative writing at the University of California at Riverside. She lives in Los Angeles. Her new book is a work of nonfiction called Conditional Citizens. 

Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and grew up between Syria and Pakistan. She is the author of five books of fiction and nonfiction. Her debut novel, The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, was longlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction and the memoir about her father's life and assassination, Songs of Blood and Sword, was published to acclaim. Her most recent book is The Runaways. She graduated Barnard with a degree in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and has a masters in South Asian Government and politics from SOAS. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @fbhutto.


GET THE BOOK
If you have a NYPL library card—or live in New York state and want to apply for one now—you can borrow Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America for free with our e-reader app SimplyE, available for iOS and Android devices. The title is also available in accessible formats for community members who do not use standard print. Find out more at: nypl.org/talkingbooks.

Readers everywhere who wish to purchase copies of Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America can do so at The New York Public Library Shop. Proceeds benefit the New York Public Library. Plus, receive a 125th Anniversary tote bag with your purchase!

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Laila Lalami © Jesse Dittmar

Fatima Bhutto © Pankaj Mishra