A novelist whose work has been shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award will discuss her dystopian bestseller about dream surveillance at a free public event in Pasadena on March 21.

Laila Lalami, a distinguished professor of creative writing at UC Riverside and a Los Angeles resident, will talk about her novel “The Dream Hotel” in conversation with Pasadena Public Library Director Tim McDonald at 2 p.m. at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd. The event is the centerpiece of the library’s 24th annual One City, One Story program, which each year asks the city to read and discuss a single book. A question-and-answer session will follow, and copies of the novel will be available for purchase and signing.

“The Dream Hotel,” published in March 2025 by Pantheon Books, imagines a near future in which a government agency called the Risk Assessment Administration uses data harvested from citizens’ dreams — processed through an algorithm — to detain people for crimes they have not committed. The protagonist, Sara, is held at a retention center where her stay is extended with every deviation from the facility’s shifting rules. The novel became a national bestseller, according to its publisher, and was named a best book of 2025 by The New Yorker, NPR, The Washington Post, People, and TIME Magazine.

A 19-member volunteer committee led by Senior Librarian Christine Reeder selected Lalami’s novel from more than 100 candidates, according to the Pasadena Weekly.

“One City, One Story has always been about fostering meaningful dialogue within our community, and ‘The Dream Hotel’ is the perfect vehicle for that conversation,” Reeder said in a statement released by the library. The novel, she said, “resonates with today’s concerns about privacy, autonomy, and the implications of an increasingly surveilled society.”

Reeder told the Pasadena Weekly that the committee seeks authors based in the Los Angeles area or whose work reflects California. “She’s an excellent speaker, and we’re looking for something that’s going to create conversation,” Reeder said.

Lalami is the author of five books. Her novel “The Moor’s Account” won the American Book Award, the Arab-American Book Award, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Her novel “The Other Americans” won the Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award. “The Dream Hotel” was nominated for the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel and was longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Lalami has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Fulbright Program, the British Council, and the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. Her books have been translated into 20 languages.

Born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, Lalami came to the United States in 1992, according to UC Riverside. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Harper’s, The Guardian, and The Nation.

The March 21 conversation is the culminating event in a month of free programming tied to the book. Events have included community book discussions at library branches across Pasadena, a lecture on artificial intelligence and emerging science at the Huntington Medical Research Institute, a presentation on dream interpretation at Vroman’s Bookstore, a session on generative AI at the Linda Vista Branch Library, and a film series at the Lamanda Park Branch Library featuring movies that explore surveillance and technology themes.

The novel is available for checkout in print, large type, eBook, and eAudiobook formats at all Pasadena Public Library branches, and for sale at local bookstores.

The conversation with Lalami takes place Saturday, March 21, at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd. Doors open at 1:45 p.m. for a prelude; the conversation begins at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Pasadena Public Library at (626) 744-4066 or visit CityOfPasadena.Libguides.com/OneCityOneStory.

One City, One Story began in 2002 with the selection of “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger, according to the Pasadena Star-News. Twenty-four years later, the program still draws the city into a single shared reading experience — though the questions the books raise keep changing.

ONE CITY ONE STORY: CONVERSATION WITH LAILA LALAMI Date & Time: Saturday, March 21, 2026, 1:45 PM – 4:00 PM (Conversation begins at 2:00 PM). Venue: Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101. Phone Number: Pasadena Public Library — (626) 744-4066. Website: https://CityOfPasadena.Libguides.com/OneCityOneStory