The Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice Noted Scholars Series (co-sponsored by Transformative Memory International Network (TMIN) presents:

Letter to the Intended: Witness, Writing, and the Writer

Dr. Juliane Okot Bitek

WHEN & WHERE
Wednesday, March 26, 12:00-1:00pm
Buchanan Tower, Room 323

Please RSVP below in advance

A light lunch will be served at 12:00pm.

ABSTRACT

“The Rooster Woman”, the title of a section of stories from We, the Kindling is about Susannah Arac, a woman who makes several return journeys—to a home, to her homeland, to her name, and to herself. In thinking about turns and returns, in fiction, in history, in our own lives and how that informs my work as writer and witness. I’m also thinking with Palestinian novelist Isabella Hammad who writes about the moment of cognition, both narratively, but also literally, and how that relates to the human and to narrative. When do we know, what is the moment of knowledge that orients us to where we are, where we’re turned, who we are, and where we’re going? What is the work and responsibility of witness when our humanity is at stake, or limited?

ABOUT Dr. Juliane Okot Bitek

Juliane Okot Bitek’s recent book of poetry, A is for Acholi, was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Her previous collection, 100 Days, reflected on the meaning of memory two decades after the Rwanda genocide. It was nominated for the BC Book Prize, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the Canadian Authors Award for Poetry, and won the Glenna Luschei Prize for African Poetry. Her most recent book of poetry, Song and Dread is published by Talonbooks. Juliane is currently an assistant professor in Black Studies, joint -appointed in English and Gender Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

We, the Kindling, her first novel, is being published in several countries and languages.