Roberto Clemente Community Academy

Ms. Baxter and Mr. Stephenson's English 9 classes had the unique opportunity to meet the the novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar.  Mr. Akhtar is the author of the play the 9th grade students have been working on in relation to The American Theatre Company's MOSAIC Theatre Project.  The play explores personal identity through the lens of the experience of an American with an Islamic background whose past and present collide in an explosive manner, affecting his personal and professional life.  Mr. Akhtar, whose novel "American Dervish" will be released along with the world premiere of the play "Disgraced" this spring, was generous enough to come and share his experience as a writer and Muslim American.