THE CENTER FOR "RACE," CULTURE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
AY D S NE D E 19 0 W 2 , 10 L I R AP
DISTINGUISHED AFRICAN SCHOLARS AND WRITERS SERIES PROGRAM
1 2:45-2 : 1 5- Wr i t i n g workshop (in Spanish) R ooseve l t 2 03 2 :30-4- Me e t & g reet with the author R ooseve l t 2 03 4 :30-6- P ub l i c l e ct ure (in Spanish/English) R ooseve l t 2 01
African writer, blogger and activist from Equatorial Guinea, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, will visit Hofstra University during his US tour in April. Author of more than 20 books (novels, essays, poetry, plays), he embarked on an unexpected hunger strike in February 2011, to protest human rights abuses and repression under his country's dictatorship, and he now resides in exile in Barcelona. One of his latest novels, By Night the Mountain Burns (2014), translated into English and several other languages, narrates his childhood in the small Atlantic island of Annobón, while The Gurugu Pledge (201ò) tells the story of African migrants trying to reach the shores of Europe, and provides a reflection on decolonization and dictatorships in the continent today. Co-sponsored by the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice, the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s office, the African Studies Program, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program