Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud

At twelve years old, Elamin Abdelmahmoud emigrates with his family from his native Sudan to Kingston, Ont., arguably one of the most homogenous cities in North America. At the airport, he's handed his Blackness like a passport, and realizes that he needs to learn what this identity means in a new country.

Like all teens, Abdelmahmoud spent his adolescence trying to figure out who he was, but he had to do it while learning to balance a new racial identity and all the false assumptions that came with it. Abdelmahmoud learned to fit in, and eventually became "every liberal white dad's favourite person in the room." But after many years spent trying on different personalities, he now must face the parts of himself he's kept suppressed all this time. He asks, "What happens when those identities stage a jailbreak?"

In his debut collection of essays, Abdelmahmoud gives full voice to each and every one of these conflicting selves. Whether reflecting on howThe O.C.taught him about falling in love, why watching wrestling allowed him to reinvent himself, or what it was like being a Muslim teen in the aftermath of 9/11, Abdelmahmoud explores how our experiences and our environments help us in the continuing task of defining who we truly are.

With the perfect balance of relatable humour and intellectual ferocity,Son of Elsewhereconfronts what we know about ourselves, and most important, what we're still learning. (From Penguin Random House Canada)

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ElaminAbdelmahmoudis the host of CBC's weekly pop culture podcastPop Chat, co-host of CBC's political podcast Party Lines, and a frequent culture commentator for CBC News. He's a culture writer for BuzzFeed News, where he also writesIncoming, the daily morning newsletter.

Interviews with ElaminAbdelmahmoud

The Sunday Magazine26:01How Elamin Abdelmahmoud found home in 'elsewhere' as newcomer to Canada

Elamin Abdelmahmoud has become a familiar face and voice to many Canadians. He's the host of CBC's Pop Chat and Party Lines podcasts. He's also known for his culture writing and political commentary. Now Abdelmahmoud is telling his own story in a new book, Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces. His essays explore the culture shock he felt immigrating to Canada from Sudan as 12-year-old, how he carved out his identity and figured out his place in the world. He tells Piya Chattopadhyay how becoming a fan of professional wrestling and the teen drama The O.C. helped him navigate cultural barriers as an adolescent in Kingston, Ontario and why country music and the American south speak to him as an adult.