Pulitzer Prize Winner Nathan Thrall Visits Morningside

During the week of 25 November, Morningside College hosted journalist and writer Nathan Thrall as the distinguished visitor of our annual One Book Programme. Thrall is the author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama (2023), a moving work of narrative nonfiction centred around a fatal bus crash that took place in the West Bank in 2012. By interweaving the personal histories of affected characters, both Palestinian and Israeli, Thrall creates an illuminating and deeply compelling narrative about the lived realities of a decades-long occupation. Thrall’s book was awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.

On Wednesday 27 November, Thrall participated in a public talk titled ‘Writing about Israel and Palestine’ moderated by Morningside Fellow Professor Saskia Witteborn. Thrall spoke about his decade of work at the International Crisis Group prior to writing this book, as well as what he aimed to achieve in writing such an intimate narrative of a tragedy. On Friday 29 November, Thrall delivered the final GEMC1001 lecture of the term, speaking with Morningside freshmen who seized the chance to ask him about everything from his life in Jerusalem to the structural decisions that shaped his book. While he was here, Thrall also made the time to meet with Morningside’s first ever Book Club, a small group of students who have been diligently reading and discussing A Day in the Life of Abed Salama with Junior Fellows throughout the term.

Morningside College’s One Book Programme selects one book to present to incoming freshmen at the start of term, unifying the community in deeper inquiry around a different topic each year.