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