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Events & Appearances
Upcoming
2023
September 15-17. Macondo Literary Festival , Nairobi, Kenya.
October 19-23. Keynote Speaker, "Reclaiming the Narrative," NYU Ghana , Accra, Ghana.
October 29-31. Culture Summit , Abu Dhabi, UAE.
November 1. The Arts Center New York University, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Previous engagements
Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA, November 2022.
Bay Area Book Festival, San Francisco, CA, USA, May 2022.
Emerson College WLP Reading Series, Boston, MA, USA, November 2021
Just Buffalo Literary Center, Buffalo, NY, USA, October 2021
Brooklyn Book Festival, Brooklyn, NY, USA, October 2021
Politics & Prose, with Rabih Alameddine (virtual), Washington, DC, USA, May 2021
City Lights Booksellers, with Eula Biss (virtual), San Francisco, CA, USA, May 2021
Brookline Booksmith, with Maaza Mengiste (virtual), Brookline, MA, USA, May 2021
Elliott Bay Book Company (virtual), Seattle, WA, USA, May 2021
Toronto Public Library, with Garvia Bailey (virtual), Toronto, ON, Canada, May 2021
Books & Books (virtual), Miami, FL, USA, June 2021
Erich Fried International Literature Festival (Keynote), Vienna, Austria, November 2019
Vassar College Africana Studies 50th Anniversary (Keynote), Poughkeepsie, NY, USA, November 2019
St. Lawrence University Writers Series, Canton, NY, USA, October 2019
National Book Festival, Washington, DC, USA, August 2019
Bookstan Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia, July 2019
Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, Columbia, MD, USA, June 2019
Vancouver Writers' Festival, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 2018
University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA, October 2018
UVA Bookstore, Charlottesville, VA, USA, September 2018
Open Book Festival, Cape Town, South Africa, September 2018
Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Festival, with Lisa Halliday , Edinburgh, UK, August 2018
PEN World Voices , New York City, NY, USA, April 2018
Mr B's Emporium , Bath, UK, April 2018
92Y , reading with Alan Hollinghurst, New York City, NY, USA, March 2018
Harvard Bookstore , in conversation with Claire Messud, Cambridge, MA, USA, March 2018
Interabang Books , Dallas, TX, USA, March 2018
Inprint , Houston, TX, USA, March 2018
Skylight Books, in conversation with Laila Lalami, Los Angeles, CA, USA, March 2018
Book Passage, in conversation with Isabel Allende, Corte Madera, CA, USA, March 2018
Seattle Public Library , co-presented by Elliott Bay Book Co., Seattle, WA, USA, March 2018
Launch of Happiness at Politics & Prose , in conversation with Sharon Gelman, Washington, D.C., USA, March 2018
Seavey Reading Series at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA, USA, February 2018
In conversation with Elleke Boehmer , Oxford University, Oxford, UK, October 2017
ALA Annual Conference , Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA, June 2017
Launch of Freeman's with Rabih Alameddine, Kerri Arsenault, and John Freeman, Oslo Litteraturhuset, Oslo, Norway, June 2017
Oxford University , Oxford, UK, June 2017
Joint appearance with Aleksandar Hemon, Goshen College, Goshen, IN, USA, October 2016
Joint appearance with Aleksandar Hemon and Nami Mun, Woman & Children First, Chicago, IL, USA, October 2016
Joint appearance with Garnette Cadogan, Ashe Power House Theatre, New Orleans, LA, USA, September 2016
Joint appearance with Marlon James, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA, September 2016
Freeman's New York City Launch with Tracy K. Smith, Sharon Olds, Valeria Luiselli, Ruddy Roye, and Garnette Cadogan, New School Auditorium, New York, NY, USA, September 2016
Georgetown University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar, August 2016
Lecture at George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA, April 2016
Durst Distinguished Lecture, SUNY Purchase, New York, USA, April 2016
Lannan Center , Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA, October 2015
In conversation with Laila Lalami at the Lannan Foundation , Santa Fe, NM, USA, November 2015
Women Writers Symposium, Nadine Gordimer Inaugural Lecture, Johannesburg, South Africa, September 2015
PEN World Voices Festival , New York, USA, May 2015
The Muse and the Marketplace , Boston, USA, May 2015
Lahore Literary Festival , Lahore, Pakistan, February 2015
FLUPP (International Literary Festival of the UPPS), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 2014
Stockholm Literature Festival , Stockholm, Sweden, October 2014
Hotel Particulier New York in New York, NY, USA, September 2014
Yale Literary Festival, New Haven, CT, USA, September 2014
Listowel Writers' Week , Listowel, Ireland, May - June 2014
Bloomsbury Institute in support of Womankind Worldwide, London, England, March 2014
King's Lynn Fiction Festival, King's Lynn, England, March 2014
Harbourfront International Festival of Authors, Toronto, ON, Canada, November 2013
Texas Book Festival, Austin, TX, October 2013
Harvard Bookstore, Cambridge, MA, October 2013
Politics & Prose, Washington, DC, October 2013
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, October 2013
Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA, October 2013
Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA, October 2013
Museum of the African Diaspora with the International Museum of Women, San Francisco, CA, October 2013
In Conversation with Anthony Swofford at McNally Jackson Bookstore, New York, NY, October 2013
Litprom. Cologne, Germany, June 2013
GIZ, Bonn, Germany, June 2013
The Hay Festival. Hay, England, May 2013
The Dulwich Festival, London, England, May 2013
Europa Der Muttersprachen 2013, Britain and Beyond , Literaturhaus Salzburg, Austria, April 2013
Names not Numbers , Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England, March 2013
Bath Literature Festival, Bath, England, March 2013
Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur, India, 21-27 January 2013
Copenhagen Book Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark, 9-11 November 2012
Marlborough Literature Festival, Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, 30 September 2012
Miami Book Fair International, Miami, FL, USA, November 2011
Vancouver International Writers' Festival, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 20-22 October 2011
African Book Festival, Fee Word Centre, London, England, October 2011
Auckland Writers Festival, Auckland, New Zealand, May 2011
Sydney Writers Festival, Sydney, Australia, May 2011
Essex Book Festival, Essex, England, March 2011
Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature, Dubai, UAE, March 2011
Bath Festival, The Memory of Love was the 'Big Bath Read,' Bath, England, February 2011
Neuburger Museum of Art, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase, NY, February 2011
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, February 2011
Letelier Theatre, 3251 Prospect Street, NW, Upper Courtyard, Washington, DC, February 2011
UCLA Hammer Museum, 2151 Princeton Ave., Los Angeles, CA, February 2011
Book People, 603 N. Lamar, Austin, TX, January 2011
Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, WA, January 2011
World Affairs Council of Northern California at The International Museum of Women, 312 Sutter St., 2nd floor, San Francisco, CA, January 2011
The New School, 66 W. 12th St., Room 510, New York, NY, January 2011
Cambridge WordFest, November 2010
Brighton Storyville, Women Writers Festival, November 2010
Ilkley Literature Festival, October 2010
Edinburgh Festival, August 2010
Port Eliot Festival, July 2010
The Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, May 2010
Word, University of Aberdeen Writer's Festival, May 2010
The Review Bookshop, Bellenden Road, London SE15. (£5 of the cover price of every book sold will go to The Rogbonko Village School Trust), May 2010
Royal African Society, Brunei Suite, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, May 2010
In Conversation with Alice Walker, the Happy Soul Festival, Wandsworth Civic Suite, London, April 2010
The Pinter Centre, Goldsmith College, University of London, April 2010
The Travel Bookshop, 13-15 Blenheim Crescent, Notting Hill, London W11, April 2010
5x15 The Tabernacle, Powis Square, London W11, April 2010
Oxford Literary Festival, Christchurch, March 2010
Walberberg Seminar: Contemporary Writing in the UK, Berlin, Germany, January 2010
Free Word Centre, London, January 2010
Guadalajara International Book Fair, Mexico, December 2009
Reading Public Library, Reading, October 2009
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, Purchase, New York, October 2009
In Conversation with Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Southbank Centre, London, October 2009
Essex Book Festival, March 2009
Jaipur Literature Festival, Jaipur, India, January 2009
Kwani Literary Festival, Nairobi and Lamu, Kenya, August 2008
The Hay Festival, Seville, Spain, September 2008
International Literature Festival, Berlin, Germany, October 2008
LiteraTurm Festival, Frankfurt, Germany, May 2008
Stadtmuseum, Muenster, Germany, May 2008
Speaking live on Poland's Jazz Radio, May 2008
Meeting with Readers, Warsaw, Poland, May 2008
International Book Fair, Warsaw, Poland, May 2008
Fiction Festival, King's Lynn, Norfolk, March 2008
Hay Festival, Cartagenas, Colombia, January 2008
Belfast Literary Festival, Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast, January 2008
'Africa Inside Out' Conference, Evangelical Academy, Iserlohn, Germany, September 2007
Cadogan Hall, London, August 2007
John Hewitt Summer School, Armagh, July 2007
Oxford Literary Festival, March 2007
Perth Festival, February 2007
The Other Book, Antwerp, October 2006
Up South, Harlem, NY, October 2006
Cheltenham Literary Festival, October 2006
Edinburgh Book Festival, August 2006
Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, May 2006