Category: personal
I was so happy to return home this morning that when I stepped off the jetway at LAX, I wanted to fall on my knees and kiss the ground. The book tour was great fun, but after seventeen cities I was starting to show signs of wear. There were days when a cab driver would ask me where I had flown from and it would take me a minute to remember where I had been or even where I was going. Now I’m looking forward to spending the next few months at home and getting back to my writing routine.
Before I disappear into my writing cave again, I wanted to mention that The Moor’s Account was included in several year-end lists: the New York Times Notable Books of 2014, NPR’s Best Books of 2014, and the Los Angeles Times Holiday Book Recommendations. Thank you to all who read the novel, reviewed it, and recommended it. I am grateful.
Update! The Moor’s Account is also one of the Wall Street Journal‘s Ten Best Books of the year.
(Illustration credit: Jon McNaught, New York Times)
Good news! The Moor’s Account received a great review in the December 1st issue of the New Yorker. It was also selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Fiction Books of 2014. Thank you again to everyone who has read the book, shared news about it, or attended one of my events.
My last stop on the Moor’s Account book tour will be in Austin, where I will take part in the UT Symposium for African Writers. Here are the details for my reading:
December 3, 2014
3:00 PM
Reading and conversation with Maaza Mengiste
University of Texas at Austin
Liberal Arts Building 1.302E
I’m looking forward to talking African literature with my friend Maaza and with the other writers present. If you happen to be in Austin this week, come on by. In the meantime, here is a review I wrote for the New York Times about Nuruddin Farah’s new novel, Hiding in Plain Sight.
What a pleasure and an honor it was to be part of the Chinua Achebe Legacy Series at CCNY! Thank you to all who came to my reading. I’m back home now, but already preparing for two other events. I will be in Arizona next week, for a reading at Yavapai College:
November 14, 2014
7:00 PM
Reading and on-stage conversation
Yavapai College
1100 E. Sheldon Street
Prescott, Arizona
The following weekend, I will be in Florida for the Miami Book Fair, doing a reading with Kathryn Harrison and Kristin Downey. Here are the details:
November 23, 2014
2:30 PM
Miami Book Fair
Room 8503
Building 8, 5th Floor
Miami, Florida
For those who may be interested, here is a short interview I did with PEN, and a longer, chattier one I did with Aaron Bady, as part of his ‘African Writers in a New World’ series. The great Michael Schaub also reviewed The Moor’s Account on his Book Report show.
I feel like I’ve been on an airplane for the last couple of weeks. I went to the Chicago Humanities Festival, where I gave a reading, followed by a conversation with Gina Frangello. (Here is a recap of the event, if you’re interested.) Then I went back home for one day and had to head right back out for the International Festival of Authors in Toronto. I met with my lovely Canadian editor, gave two readings at Harbourfront Centre, and did a panel conversation with Sarah Waters and Valerie Martin for Writers & Company on CBC.
In other news, I will be on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Monday night. (Set your DVR!) Then on Thursday, I will be giving a reading at CCNY, as part of their Chinua Achebe Legacy Series. The reading is free and open to the public. Details are below:
November 6, 2014
12:00 PM
City College of New York
Chinua Achebe Legacy Series
NAC Building, Amsterdam Room
Amsterdam Ave. at 137th Street
Harlem, New York
But one advantage of all this travel is that I’ve been able to some reading! I just finished Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce, On Immunity by Eula Biss, and The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.
I just finished packing for my trip to the East Coast. I’ll be reading from and discussing The Moor’s Account in four cities: New York, Washington, DC, Williamstown, and Boston. The details are posted below:
October 6, 2014
8:00 PM
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York
October 7, 2014
7:00 PM
Politics and Prose
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC
October 8, 2014
6:30 PM
Williams College
Williamstown, Massachusetts
October 9, 2014
7:00 PM
Harvard Bookstore
1256 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, Massachusetts
For those who may be interested, here’s an interview I did with The Berkshire Eagle ahead of my reading at Williams. Reviews have continued to appear through last week. I particularly liked hearing Alan Cheuse’s review for NPR’s All Things Considered. Meanwhile, The Moor’s Account was published in Canada last week, so reviews have begun to appear there as well. Here, for instance, is a piece from the The Winnipeg Free Press. Details about my Canada appearances are on my Events page.
Thank you to all who came to my readings in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. I had a wonderful time talking about The Moor’s Account and enjoyed sharing anecdotes and stories. Now I’m getting ready to read in New Mexico, a state I’ve loved ever since my first visit, in the summer of 2010. First up is Albuquerque:
September 22, 2014
7:00 PM
Reading and Discussion
Bookworks
4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico
After that, I will be reading in Santa Fe:
September 23, 2014
6:00 PM
Reading and Discussion
Collected Works Bookstore
202 Galisteo St.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
You can read an interview I did with The Santa Fe New Mexican, ahead of my events in the state. The Moor’s Account was the subject of a wonderful essay by Rubén Martínez in The Los Angeles Review of Books. It also made Ebony‘s list of recommended reads. Do come and say hi.
Photo credit: Powell’s Books.