In this Esquire interview, Elliot Ackerman discusses Dark at the Crossing, his National Book Award finalist novel set along the border between Turkey and Syria.
The conversation explores the Syrian Civil War, ISIS, identity, exile, cultural understanding, and the responsibility of fiction to imagine lives shaped by conflict.
Dark at the Crossing and the Syrian Civil War
Ackerman discusses Haris Abadi, an Iraqi-American protagonist whose divided identity reflects the moral and political tensions of the war in Syria.
ISIS, Empathy, and Understanding Conflict
The interview examines the Islamic State, why people join extremist movements, and the difference between understanding a worldview and agreeing with it.
War Literature, Identity, and Exile
At its center, the conversation considers how fiction can cross cultural boundaries, portray refugees and revolutionaries, and reveal what it means to lose a country.