The author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, and founder of the The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, will share his books, experiences and work in Afghanistan in an April 10th engagement at the Resort at Squaw Creek.

With two bestselling novels centering around life in Afghanistan, and one turned into a popular movie, Khaled Hosseini’s work continues to inspire and enlighten and his foundation is making progress to improve the life of Afghan citizens.  On April 10, Palisades Tahoe Institute’s presents the author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, and founder of the The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, which provides humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan. 

Taking place at Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley, the speaking engagement will give the audience an opportunity to learn more about Afghanistan, Hosseini’s experience as a goodwill envoy to the UNHCR (the United Nations Refugee Agency), and his books. 

The mission of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation is to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan to help alleviate suffering and build healthy communities. The Foundation seeks to make grants that create meaningful and enduring differences in the lives of the people of Afghanistan. The Foundation gives priority to programs and projects providing relief and shelter for families, economic opportunities for women, and education for children.

As Hosseini points out on his Foundation website, Afghanistan has been ravaged by natural disaster, disease, hunger, and the ruthless rule of extremist regimes have created human suffering on a scale that is hard for those of us living in the West to imagine.

Hosseini, himself, was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and his mother taught Farsi and History at a large high school in Kabul. In 1976, the Afghan Foreign Ministry relocated the Hosseini family to Paris. They were ready to return to Kabul in 1980, but by then Afghanistan had already witnessed a bloody communist coup and the invasion of the Soviet army, which, as the conflict progressed, ultimately took the lives of 1-million Afghans.  The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States. In September of 1980, Hosseini's family moved to San Jose, California. Hosseini graduated from high school in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University where he earned a bachelor's degree in Biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California-San Diego's School of Medicine, where he earned a Medical Degree in 1993. He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
 
Hosseini practiced medicine from 1996 until 2004, and began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, in March of 2001. In 2003, The Kite Runner, was published and has since become an international bestseller, published in 48 countries. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns was published in May of 2007. Currently, A Thousand Splendid Suns is published in 40 countries.
 
Tickets are on sale now at the Palisades Tahoe Institute’s Website at www.squawvalleyinstitute.org.   General seating is $50.  For Palisades Tahoe Institute members, tickets are $45.  A select number of preferred seating tickets are available for $75. For tickets or more details on this event, visit www.squawvalleyinstitute.org or call 530.581.4138. 

For more information about The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, visit www.khaledhosseinifoundation.org.