In his new novel, 'American Dervish,' author Ayad Akhtar confronts the often-overlooked fact that Islam’s views of women are very close to those in Christianity and Judaism.
Ayad Akhtar earned a degree in theater from Brown University and, after graduating, moved to Tuscany to work with world-renowned acting theorist and pioneer Jerzy Grotowski (Towards a Poor Theatre). Since the 1990s he has been a resident of New York City, where he has taught acting on his own and alongside Andre Gregory (My Dinner With Andre, Vanya on 42nd Street).