Iraqi-American Author Wins 2017 Eric Hoffer Award

DETROIT, June 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ Weam Namou's book, The Great American Family: A Story of Political Disenchantment, has won the 2017 Eric Hoffer Award in the self-published category. The book, released in 2016 by the Iraqi-born author, continues to bring awareness to democracy's double standards.

In a review, US Review of Books wrote: "The author makes good use of firsthand accounts, skillfully weaving them together to show how the 'War on Terror' has blurred or perhaps frayed our criminal justice system. As an Iraqi-American journalist the author has the prefect background to tell this story. Settings are well-depicted and characters come to life so that it's tempting to skip ahead to learn the resolution. This book takes a hard look at how terrorism, oppression, and sanctions invite hypocrisy, abuse of power and double-dealing. One hopes this isn't an example of the new normal for America but fears that it is."

Namou was a child when she and her family fled Iraq because of Iraq's totalitarian government. "We came here for America's freedoms," she says. But as much as she loves her adopted country, the award-winning author and documentarian now worries that the very freedoms that attracted her family to America are slipping away.

It is that fear and the need for Americans to pay more attention to their liberties that led Namou to write The Great American Family. Although the book tells the story of Dawn Hanna, who in 2009 was accused of conspiring to broker telecommunication equipment to Iraq during the sanctions, it is much wider in scope. Hanna was sentenced to six years in prison, which she served. But unbeknownst to her and the jury which tried her, her co-conspirator was actually a CIA operative. Namou says the project was sponsored by the United States to listen in on Saddam and his men.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Baghdad, Weam Namou is an Iraqi American author, filmmaker and journalist. She is the award-winning author of 12 books, the vice president of Detroit Working Writers,and has given lectures, workshops and poetry readings at numerous cultural and educational institutions.A graduate of Wayne State University, Namou has been a guest on more than 100 radio talk shows. Her new documentary, also called "The Great American Familywww.thegreatamericanfamilydocumentary.com," is in post-production.

AVAILABILITY: Detroit, nationwide by arrangement and via telephone
CONTACT: Weam Namou, 586-212-4490; 164992@email4pr.com; www.weamnamou.com