Sydney Writers' Festival 2008 - Online Program
An Unimagined Evening with Imran Ahmad in Parramatta
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Part White Teeth, part Adrian Mole, Unimagined is the captivating memoir of a Muslim boy born in Pakistan, who moves to London aged one and grows up torn between his Islamic identity and his desire to embrace the West. The endearing narrator recalls his childhood in a series of vivid snapshots: outrage as deserved victory is snatched away from him in the Karachi Bonnie Baby contest; bitterness as he is tricked out of his collection of Tarzan bubble-gum cards by junior con artists; the heady taste of success in the Metropolitan Police schools quiz; joy at passing the entrance exam to the local grammar school; uncertainty as he seeks to become a doctor (like all good Asian boys); and shock at experiencing racist abuse from pupils, neighbours and strangers.

Imran's response is a determined quest to become the quintessential English gentleman: tie perfectly knotted, shirt pristinely ironed, hair neatly combed. Like most boys, he has a parallel obsession with cars and girls: he yearns to emulate his hero, Simon Templar in The Saint, by driving off into the distance in a Jaguar XJS and encountering danger, adventure – and a vivacious young woman (preferably brunette, but any kind considered).

Imran Ahmad speaks with Randa Abdel-Fattah about his memoir Unimagined.

Supported by Information & Cultural Exchange.

Author Talk  |  Life Writing, Current Affairs
Participants
Imran Ahmad, Randa Abdel-Fattah (facilitator)

When
Thursday, May 22 2008
18:30 - 19:45

Where
Riverside Theatres, Lennox Theatre
Corner Church and Market Streets
Parramatta
Venue and Transport Info...

Cost
Free
Bookings essential
8839 3399

Schedule
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IMRAN AHMAD (INTERNATIONAL)Ahmad, Imran
Imran Ahmad was severely traumatised at the age of seven, when Michael Swallow pushed in front of him in the school lunch queue and secured the last plate of fish and chips – leaving Imran no ‘choice’ but a horrid egg flan. He compensated for this loss by subsequently eating fish and chips on every possible occasion for the next 40 years (resulting in a severe reprimand from his cardiologist).

Too lazy to get the grades he needed for medical school, he ended up at Stirling University in Scotland, studying chemistry, learning about Islam and trying to impress women. Ultimately he was quite successful in Chemistry and became quite knowledgeable about Islam as well, but he didn’t impress any women – despite having an Alfa Romeo and a microwave oven (quite possibly the only privately owned microwave on campus at that time).

In careers brochures, he saw people in business suits, travelling and having meetings. (This looked like fun to him, but he wasn't sure what the people in suits actually did.) He persuaded one of those big global companies to hire him into their graduate scheme and he ended up working all over the world.

His book, Unimagined, was selected by no less than three major newspapers (The Independent, The Guardian and The Sydney Morning Herald) in their ‘books of the year’ lists. The Dutch version was released recently and is called Mohammed, Jezus en James Bond (there being no catchy word for ‘Unimagined’ in Dutch, apparently) and the television series is being developed.

Imran is on the Board of British Muslims for Secular Democracy, which opposes the imposition of theological or regressive cultural values on any individual, group or gender.

His business travels in the 90s included many visits to Sydney, where he was on one occasion bumped from his favourite hotel room because some fella called Jackson had booked – in their entirety – the top four storeys of the Sheraton on the Park. But it got even worse. On Imran’s return from the office one day – and despite him proffering his Sheraton Club International card – a bodyguard thug in a leather jacket wouldn’t let him through the screaming crowd into the hotel, saying: “You’ll have to wait until Michael Jackson arrives.” Imran still gets upset when he remembers this.
www.unimagined.co.uk

also appearing at...
59: Not Another Misery Memoir...
303: An Unimagined Journey with Imran Ahmad

RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH (LOCAL)
Randa Abdel-Fattah is 28 years old. She was born in Australia to Palestinian and Egyptian parents. She lives in Sydney with her husband and daughter and juggles working as a lawyer, author and Palestine human rights activist. Randa won the Victorian Premier's Literary Alfred Deakin essay award in 2005.

Her debut novel, Does My Head Look Big In This? was awarded the Australian Industry Book Award for best Australian Book for Young Adult Readers and was long-listed for the Galaxy British Book Awards 2007 and listed as a Notable Book by the Children Book Council in 2006.

Her second novel, Ten Things I Hate About Me was short-listed for the Australian Industry Book Award for best Australian Book for Young Adult Readers, short-listed for the West Australian Young Reader's Book Award and listed as a notable book by the Children's Book Council in 2007.

Her novels have been published and translated in many countries and are currently being taught as part of the school curriculum in Australia and overseas.

Randa's novel, Where The Streets Had A Name, is due to be released in Australia in October this year.