What happens when the ideals you once held start to crumble? Award-winning journalist and novelist Omar El Akkad, joined by Max Porter, takes the stage to explore his first nonfiction work, the bold and unflinching One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.

Sparked by his viral tweet during the bombardment of Gaza—viewed over 10 million times—El Akkad lays bare the fractures in the West’s promises of freedom and justice. Drawing on two decades of reporting on the War on Terror, Black Lives Matter protests, and the escalating climate crisis, he reflects on how events like the violence in Gaza have reshaped his understanding of migration, power, and inequality. Once a believer in the West’s ideals, El Akkad now confronts the uncomfortable truths of exclusion and broken systems, weaving urgency with hope to inspire a reimagining of what a just and compassionate world could look like.

Speakers:

Omar El Akkad is an author and journalist. He was born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada as a teenager and now lives in the United States. He is a two-time winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award and the Oregon Book Award. His books have been translated into 13 languages. His debut novel, American War, was named by the BBC as one of 100 novels that shaped our world.

Max Porter is the acclaimed author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers, which won multiple awards, including the International Dylan Thomas Prize, and has been translated into 31 languages. His novel Lanny was a Sunday Times bestseller, longlisted for the Booker Prize, and shortlisted for multiple other awards. Known for his literary innovation, Max has collaborated with artists and musicians, including the acclaimed All Of This Unreal Time, which premiered at the Manchester International Festival in 2021. His latest work, The Death of Francis Bacon, has been hailed as a “miniature masterpiece.” Max lives in Bath with his family.