FREE Author Meet & Greet: Rayya Elias - Harley Loco & Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat Pray Love, 4/18 at DIA - RSVP REQUIRED

Rayya Elias - Harley Loco & Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love

Former Michigander Elias to read from her new memoir Harley Loco, followed by a discussion with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

On Thursday, April 18th at 7pm, The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) hosts author Rayya Elias, who will read from her new book, HARLEY LOCO: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post-Punk, from the Middle East to the Lower East Side.

Following the reading, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, will join Elias for a discussion, and both authors will sign books.

HARLEY LOCO is a dynamic and moving chronicle of Elias’ hard-won search for self, during which she came to realize that no matter what, people can eventually change their lives for the better without regret for the past. The book is published by Viking and is scheduled to be in stores in early April.

In Elizabeth Gilbert’s introduction to the book, she says Elias had “experienced wealth, homelessness, brushes with fame, rehab (and more rehab), a million blown second chances, a dozen broken hearts, and one bloody-knuckled, ultimate spiritual redemption.”

Rayya Elias - Harley Loco

Born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1960, Elias left with her family at the age of seven to escape rising religious and political tensions and settled first in Royal Oak, then in Warren, Michigan, only to discover herself newly embedded in a different kind of hostile landscape. Bullied in school for everything from not being cool enough (her mother made her clothes) to her language barrier, and caught between the worlds of her traditional family and her tough American classmates, she rebelled early.

Elias moved to New York City in 1983 to become a musician and supported herself with her uncommon talent for cutting hair. At the height of the punk and new wave movements, life on the Lower East Side was full of adventure, creative inspiration and temptation. But before long, her passionate affairs with lovers of both sexes went awry, her drug recreation became drug addiction, and if she wasn’t living on the streets, she was in jail.

HARLEY LOCO chronicles Elias’ early life, her time in Michigan, and her path from harrowing loss and darkness to a place of peace and redemption. Elias lives in New York where she is a musician, hairdresser, filmmaker, and also sells real estate to make some extra money. She has been clean since August 8, 1997.

This event is hosted by 100 Women for the Arts, and is FREE with required advance reservations. 

To reserve a seat, visit www.dia.org/rayyaelias

Enjoy!


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