Brookfield Central Grad Ayad Akhtar​ Releases New Book

BROOKFIELD, WI— Brookfield Central High School alumnae list is quite impressive and includes novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar.

His work has been published and performed in over two dozen languages. He is the winner of numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Winning the Pulitzer Prize was surprising to Ayad as he said, "I didn't do anything to win it, I just wrote something." Akhtar said.

The reality is still hard to fathom for the playwright. He remembered publishing a story in college and a teacher encouraged him to get it published.

"It wasn't ready yet. It took many years before I was able to show my work," Akhtar said.

He had to develop a thick skin and keep flexing his writing muscles. Also dipping his toes into criticism and feedback and building his confidence up from those experiences.

"It is hard because you do feel judged by what people think and safe. You have to be tough enough to withstand their criticism," he said.

The Elm Grove native had a great foundation built during this time in the Milwaukee area.

Akhtar grew up in Elm Grove and graduated from Brookfield Central High School. He is on the board for the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Akhtar also has a brother who lives in the Milwaukee area.

He has spoken highly of Diane Doerfler, a Brookfield Central teacher who sparked his passion for literature and theatre.

Currently, his inspiration comes from what is going on around the world. The divisiveness, racial, and economic divide "threatening to tear the country apart."

"As a writer, I feel it is my responsibility to make sense of the chaos our country," Akhtar told Patch.

The country is at a pivotal moment. Akhtar warns if we are not careful "we are going to have some real trouble."

Akhtar said he wrote a portrait of Wisconsin in "Homeland Elegies", his newest book.

His website describes the book as "A deeply personal work about identity and belonging in a nation coming apart at the seams, Homeland Elegies blends fact and fiction to tell an epic story of longing and dispossession in post-Trump America. Part family drama, part social essay, part picaresque novel, at its heart it is the story of a father, a son, and the country they both call home."

Ayad Akhtar will talk about "Homeland Elegies" with Milwaukee Repertory Theater artistic director Mark Clements via Zoom at 7 p.m. Sept. 22 in a Boswell Books event. Register for the Zoom event at boswellbooks.com.