My Father’s Paradise: A Journey into Jewish Kurdistan

Join award-winning journalist and author Ariel Sabar for a conversation about his acclaimed book My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq. Part memoir, part history, the book traces Sabar’s journey alongside his father, a Jewish scholar born in a remote Kurdish village, as he uncovers the extraordinary story of one of the world’s oldest and most isolated Jewish communities. Through personal narrative, cultural history, and themes of identity, exile, and belonging, Sabar invites us into a moving exploration of heritage and the bonds between generations.

Ariel Sabar is an award-winning author and journalist. His debut, My Father’s Paradise (2008), won the National Book Critics Circle Award. He has since published Heart of the City (2011), The Outsider (2014), and Veritas (2020), a finalist for both the Edgar Award and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Book Award. A contributing writer for The Atlantic, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Harper’s, The Washington Post, and This American Life. Sabar has reported globally, taught creative writing at George Washington University, and lectured at universities including Yale, Brown, and Georgetown.