WEALTH OF IDEAS

In this interview, I chat with Na'ima B. Robert , author of the new novel 'Far from Home', which I just finished reading. It is a novel about growing up, family, Zimbabwean colonial and post colonial history which chronicles the pains of land dispossession and loss of home.Some of the central issues of the novels are captured in the following description, given at the author website: "Katie and Tariro are two girls linked by a terrible secret, grappling with the complexities of adolescence, family and a painful colonial legacy as their lives play out against the tragic history of the land in Zimbabwe....Atmospheric, gripping and epic in scope, Far from Home brings the turbulent history of Zimbabwe to vivid, tangible life, challenging the reader to see it with new eyes." The Interview Emmanuel Sigauke : First, congratulations on the publication of 'Far from Home' . What prompted you to tackle the controversial (and topical) land issue in Zimbabwe in this n...

Sacramento, Calif : On June 24, Stories on Stage will feature readings of short stories by African writers Beatrice Lamwaka (Uganda), Ivor W. Hartmann (Zimbabwe), and Gothataone Moeng (Botswana). This event, which I will guest host, takes place at the Sacramento Poetry Center, the monthly venue of Stories on Stage. While this special feature is the first of its kind, my hope is that other African writers will take the opportunity to send their stories as the series, which usually features short fiction by established and emerging writers from Sacramento and surrounding areas, but is set to expand way beyond, as this special event demonstrates. Usually introduced by their writers, the stories are read by actors. Since the writers featured on June 24 are not going to be present at the event, I will read the introductions they sent to Stories on Stage. I look forward to this and similar readings. The SoS series runs on the last Friday of every month. So here are the details of the feature...

PRESENTS Terry Ahearn and Emily Hughes Monday June 13, 2011 at 7:30 PM 1719 25th Street • Crossroads for the Arts Host: Emmanuel Sigauke Terry Ahearn’s poetry has been published in Blue Unicorn, High Desert Journal, Poetalk, Poetry Now , and the Cosumnes River Journal , among other publications. He has won the Samuel Goldwyn Award for Creative Writing and the Silver Award for amateur filmmaking from the Houston International Film Festival. He has a Master’s Degree in English from California State University of Sacramento and a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Screenwriting from UCLA, and he currently teaches English Writing at Cosumnes River College and San Joaquin Delta College. He lives in east Sacramento. Gardener Few persons stroll the interstate, where dust creatures snake the yellow-painted lines, where the air trembles with the heat, where the distance might be where you see it and then again might not be anywhere you think it is at all. The only people there are the ones that shat...