Category: personal

Thank you to everyone who came to Harvard Book Store tonight to hear me read (and to the readers who pre-ordered signed copies!) I had a great time. And thank you to the kind and thoughtful staff there. I loved the fact that they were also offering copies of the New York Review of Books edition of Season of Migration to the North with my intro.

Here is a quick heads up on upcoming radio interviews: I taped a short segment for WAMC’s The Roundtable, and I believe it will air on Thursday, so please tune in. For those of you in New England, I will also be on the Jordan Rich Show on WBZ this weekend.

I will be reading from Secret Son in Boston, Massachusetts this week. Here are the details:

Monday, May 4, 2009
7:00 PM
Reading and signing
Harvard Bookstore
Boston, Massachusetts

Please come by and say hello!

I had a full day on Friday–three panels, plus a couple of interviews. It all started with a lunchtime reading with Morten Ramsland, Peter Weber, and Bernard Comment at Deutsches Haus. The event was scheduled to be held in the courtyard, but it was a little rainy so we stayed inside. I met with several readers afterward, including an Israeli woman of Moroccan origin, a young writer who had traveled from Philadelphia for the event, and an elderly women with carefully wrapped copies of both my books.

I had to take a mad dash to my next panel, which was moderated by Jane Ciabattari and which provided critical perspectives on several writers in the festival: Eric Banks on Peter Weber, Rigoberto Gonzalez on Álvaro Enrique, the translator Alissa Valles on Bernardo Atxaga, and me on Nawal al-Saadawi. As I was getting ready to sit down on stage, I discovered that none other than Ms. al-Saadawi herself was sitting in the front row, right across from me. I got a little bit flustered as I started speaking, but overall I think I got all of my points across. Here is a Flickr photo set from the event and a brief wrap up of the panel from Words Without Borders.

Then we (Alex had flown in from Los Angeles for the weekend) went to get some lunch while we waited for the next panel–a celebration of Tayeb Salih and the marvelous Season of Migration to the North. We started with a reading in Arabic by Elias Khoury of the first scene from the novel, which I then read in English. Then Raja Shehadeh, Bruce Robbins, Elias Khoury and I each spoke about what the book meant to us. I was delighted to discover that Mariam Said was in the audience (the late Edward Said wrote so approvingly of this book; I believe her presence was in his memory).

Photo: Jane Ciabattari, Nawal el-Saadawi, and me. (Photo credit.)

I am on the East Coast for a few days. After checking into my hotel room, I went to the opening reception of the PEN World Voices festival, where I had a chance to see a few friends and partners in crime. Then today was my first panel, with Dany Laferrière, Edwidge Danticat, and Colum McCann, moderated by Benjamin Anastas. You can read summaries and wrap-ups of the various panels on the festival blog. And here is a flickr photo set from the event.

Then I went to lunch with my lovely and amazing agent. I’m happy to report that British, Dutch, and Swedish rights to Secret Son have been sold; I’m looking forward to seeing the book appear in new places. Let’s see, what else? I did a radio interview in the afternoon and now I’m getting ready for another one. More soon, I hope.

Photo: Edwidge Danticat and me. (Photo credit.)

I will be doing several panels at the PEN World Voices Festival. I’m really excited about this festival–it’s really one of my favorites. Here are details for all of my events:

Thursday, April 30, 2009
10:00 AM
Personal Evolution, Social Revolution: Edwidge Danticat, Dany Laferrière, Laila Lalami, and Colum McCann; moderated by Benjamin Anastas
PEN World Voices Festival
Instituto Cervantes New York, 211–215 East 49th Street
New York, New York

Friday, May 1, 2009
12:30 – 2:00PM
Garden Readings: With Laila Lalami, Morten Ramsland, and Peter Weber
PEN World Voices
Deutsches Haus, at NYU, 42 Washington Mews
New York, New York

Friday, May 1, 2009
3:00 – 4:30 PM
This Critical Moment: With Eric Banks, Rigoberto González, Laila Lalami, and Kevin Prufer; moderated by Jane Ciabattari
PEN World Voices
Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue
New York, New York

Friday, May 1, 2009
6:00 – 7:00 PM
Season of Migration to the North: The Work of Tayeb Salih
With Elias Khoury, Laila Lalami, Bruce Robbins, and Raja Shehadeh
PEN World Voices
Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue
New York, New York

You don’t need to have tickets for any of these events, so please come by and say hello.

Despite the Blazers vs. Rockets game on Tuesday night, turnout for my reading at Powell’s was huge–75 people. It was thrilling to be in Portland again, and to see so many familiar faces in the audience. I also signed a lot of extra stock, so if you’d like to order a signed copy, have at it.