About Danuta

Danuta Hinc is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at University of Maryland at College Park, where she teaches writing.
 
            She holds an M.A. in Philology from Gdansk University in Poland.  She completed three years of postgraduate studies at the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 2014 she received the Barry Hannah Merit Scholarship in Fiction from Bennington College, and graduated with her M.F.A. in Writing in… more
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To Kill the Other

How does a sensitive, scholarly boy from an affluent Egyptian family become a hijacker? Set in the three decades leading up to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, To Kill the Other, tells the story of Taher and his spiritual transformation from an innocent young boy into a ruthless, disillusioned conformist. Exploring the circumstances and choices that shaped him, To Kill the Other builds toward an unimaginable act of mass terror in which Taher finally confronts who and what he has become.

“No one is born a murderer of thousands. To Kill the Other takes a spin on how a terrorist is formed. Telling the story of Taher, a man who is transformed from a simple kid into a ruthless individual joining in on his group's plans of mass murder. A fascinating and well written story, To Kill the Other is a highly recommended pick, not to be missed.”
~ Midwest Book Review

"What eventually came of that rush of tangled emotions and questions, some 10 years later, is Hinc’s book, “To Kill the Other.” It’s a fictional story of a boy who grows up to become a terrorist. It’s not about al-Qaeda; it’s not about ideology. It’s about the choices human beings make."
~ Lisa Kawata, The Baltimore Sun

“Looking at 9/11 through the prism of a hijacker is no easy feat, yet Hinc awakens us to the life possibilities that transforms the human heart in perverse ways that leads a young Egyptian man on a suicide mission "to kill the other." It is only at the last instance as the hijacker enters a flaming inferno with others that the insight comes that all human fates are bound together. “
~ Mike Clark, Co-Publisher Little Patuxent Review

“Very few people have written about the attack of 9/11 in a perspective of hijackers. Hinc has written a lucid, utterly gripping speculation expanding our understanding of who the hijackers were and who motivated them. She provides an important new perspective to this event which has transformed our lives.”
~ Martin Siegel, author of Amen: The Diary of Rabbi Martin Siegel

“Hinc tells her story masterfully by weaving multiple perspectives, revealing the core of human sorrow and the transcendent quality of compassion.”
~ Chukwudi Okpala, author of The Uncircumcised
  • Book Trailer
  • To Kill the Other
    Danuta Hinc reads from her novel, "To Kill the Other."
  • The Form of Words
    Danuta Hinc on how words create reality
  • Stories Transform Us: Danuta Hinc