One Book,

One City

Join Fort Collins Reads in celebrating our 24th year bringing renowned authors and thought-provoking books to Fort Collins!

We are thrilled to bring author Omar El Akkad to Fort Collins to discuss, with Dr. Ray Black, his nonfiction debut One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. His memoir dives into what it’s like to live in a Western world that doesn't always live up to its promises. The event is on November 8th, at 2pm at the Hilton Fort Collins. Doors open at 1pm. Come early for the basket raffle! The author conversation will be followed by a book signing. For more information, please check out our FAQ below.

Purchase Tickets Here!

Tickets are available for purchase online on Eventbrite or in person at Old Firehouse Books in Old Town, Fort Collins. Avoid online fees and pick up a copy of the book (20% off discount if purchased with a ticket to the event) at the same time! Pre-signed books will also be available for purchase during the event.

ABOUT OMAR EL AKKAD

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 Pacific Northwest. He was a staff reporter for The Globe and Mail and as an award-winning journalist and author El Akkad has traveled around the world to cover many of the most important news stories of the last decade. His reporting includes dispatches from the NATO-led war in Afghanistan, the military trials in Guantanamo Bay, the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, and the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri. His debut novel, American War (2017), won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, the Oregon Book Award for fiction, and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, and has been nominated for more than ten other awards. In 2019, the BBC included American War on its list of 100 novels that shaped the world. His second novel, What Strange Paradise (2021), won the 2021 Giller Prize, the 2022 Oregon Book Award for fiction, and a 2022 Pacific Northwest Book Award. In 2025, El Akkad published his first nonfiction book, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, which won the National Book Award for nonfiction.

ABOUT THE BOOK

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • PALESTINE BOOK AWARD WINNER • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR CRITICISM • From award-winning novelist and journalist Omar El Akkad comes a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This mixes personal stories with big-picture reflections on war, politics, and morality. Drawing on his time as a journalist covering conflicts, El Akkad talks about how people and governments often justify violence in the moment—but later act like they were against it all along. Throughout the book, he wrestles with questions about complicity, empathy, and what it means to live ethically in a world where suffering is easy to ignore. It is personal, thought-provoking, and it pushes readers to think about how they respond to injustice.

For more information on Omar El Akkad please visit www.prhspeakers.com

Yes!
Free parking is available at the Hilton Fort Collins, although the parking lot is relatively small. Lake Street Parking Garage (1508 Center Ave) has hourly spaces available for $2/hour. Please make sure to check all signs in the parking garage for any restrictions.
Alternatively, The Hilton Fort Collins is located close to the Fort Collins Max Bus Prospect Station, and just off of The Mason Trail and Spring Creek Trail greenways.
This one hour event is an opportunity to hear about the book straight from the author. This year, the event will have a moderator, Dr. Ray Black. The conversation will explore topics related to the book. At the conclusion of the conversation, there will be an opportunity for the audience to submit questions. While our volunteers collect audience questions, we will announce the winners of our fundraising raffle. After the event has concluded, Omar El Akkad will be available for book signing.
Yes!
We are hosting a book club where the community can discuss the book ahead of the author event. Please visit our calendar page or follow us on Instagram for details. If you have your own book club and would like to discuss the book, the Poudre Libraries have book club kits of the book! You can request the book club kits through their website or by speaking with a librarian at any of the Poudre Libraries locations.

“I can’t think of a more important piece of writing to read right now. I found hope here, and help, to face what the world is now, all that it isn’t anymore. Please read this. I promise you won’t regret it.”

— Tommy Orange