Khaled Hosseini, the celebrated author of Elon University’s 2009-2010 Common Reading selection, comes to campus Oct. 13 for a moderated discussion during Fall Convocation. Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns traces the volatile events of Afghanistan's most recent decades as told through the eyes of two women whose lives are thrust together by war.

Khaled Hosseini

Convocation begins at 4 p.m. in Alumni Gym. Admission is $12 or free with Elon ID. Tickets remain available.

Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965, the son of a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and a Farsi and history teacher at a large high school. The Hosseinis sought and were granted political asylum in the United States after a communist coup overthrew the government in 1980.

Hosseini earn a bachelor's degree in biology at Santa Clara University 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.

While in medical practice, Hosseini began writing his first novel, The Kite Runner, which was published in 2003. In 2006 he was named a goodwill envoy to UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was published in May 2007.

Khaled has been recently working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through The Khaled Hosseini Foundation. He lives today in northern California.