11: Books that humanize the world: How author Khaled Hosseini of "The Kite Runner" built a global fan base around refugee stories

Khaled Hosseini, author of the beloved novels "Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns," which tell stories set in the country he was forced to flee 38 years ago, Afghanistan, opens up on "Salon Talks" about why refugee stories are the central focus of his writing career.

Hosseini's latest project, "Sea Prayer,” an illustrated poetry book, tells one refugee’s story of displacement and serves as a window into the refugee crisis in the Middle East. 

Hosseini says he was motivated to write it after seeing the gut-wrenching photo of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, whose small body washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015, after his family attempted to flee Syria. "That photograph, as a father, just bludgeoned me," Hosseini tells Salon. 

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