Stranger in the Pen

Price: 55.00 AED

Publisher: Perfect Day Publishing

Year of Publication: 2018

ISBN: 9780983632771

Stranger in the Pen is a memoir by Mohamed Asem that delves into themes of identity, displacement, and the complexities of belonging. The narrative begins with Asem's arbitrary overnight detention by British immigration officials at Gatwick Airport in July 2016, shortly after the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice. Through a reflective and introspective prose style, Asem recounts the emotional and psychological toll of this experience. He intertwines this event with personal anecdotes from his youth—being stranded in Paris during the Gulf War, grappling with the loss of his mother, and navigating life between Middle Eastern and Western cultures. The memoir explores the burdens of racial profiling, the alienation of being disconnected from one's homeland, and the transformative power of grief.

Mohamed Asem is a writer and photographer born in California, raised in Kuwait and Paris, and now based in Portland, Oregon. His work explores themes of identity, displacement, and belonging, shaped by his cross-cultural upbringing. Stranger in the Pen is his debut memoir.