Nuruddin Farah: “The Power of Words”

Nuruddin Farah

On October 15^th, Augsburg College will host the award-winning Somali writer, Nuruddin Farah.  The event, “The Power of Words,” will include Farah’s reading from his latest novel, Knots, as well as time for discussion and book-signing.

 

Date:  Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Times:

     6:00 – 7:30 p.m. - Reading and discussion

     7:30 – 8:30 p.m. - Reception and book signing

Location:

     Augsburg College

     Hoversten Chapel in the Foss Center

     625 22^nd Avenue So., Minneapolis (corner of Riverside & 22^nd Ave)

 

Mr. Farah is the author of ten novels, including Knots.  His novels have been translated into more than twenty languages and have won numerous awards. Mr. Farah has been noted for his unique representation of the postcolonial experience in Africa; he depicts the vicissitudes of family life in the face of the withering effects of patriarchy, colonization, and state-sanctioned terror. His approach closes an important gap in the dominant anti-colonial discourse inspired by Frantz Fanon’s theories, which glossed over the hegemonic devastations of traditional African patriarchy.

 

Farah was named the 1998 laureate of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, “widely regarded as the most prestigious award after the Nobel” (The New York Times).  Born in Baidoa, Somalia, Mr. Farah has lived in exile in many African countries, including Ethiopia, Gambia, Sudan, Uganda, and Nigeria. He now lives in Cape Town, South Africa.

 

According to Michele Levy in World Literature Today (Sept/oct 2007), through the “quest” of its remarkable heroine Cambara, Farah’s Knots “explores the impact of diaspora and globalization on Somalis at home and abroad, portrays how civil war brands psyches and cities, and expands our distant vision of Mogadishu.”

 

This event is sponsored by the following Augsburg departments and organizations: Work Culture @ Augsburg, International Student Organization, English Department,

Pan-Afrikan Center, Office of International Programs, Center for Service, Work and Learning, and World Visions Book Group.