Date: Thursday 24 May 2020, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
RSVP: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAudeqhqDkoHNL2dWSrKMHN1DKu3-nuT95G

The renowned British-Sierra Leonean writer Aminatta Forna has published four novels and a memoir in which she provides insight into how individuals and communities in post-conflict zones deal with the legacies of a painful collective past. The setting of her first three books – The Devil That Danced on the Water (2002), Ancestor Stones (2006), and The Memory of Love (2010) – is Sierra Leone, her father’s native country, where from 1991 to 2002 a brutal civil war raged. In The Hired Man (2013) the focus shifts to Croatia as the site of action and traumatic remembrance, and Happiness (2018) tells the story of a Ghanaian trauma psychiatrist and an American who studies urban foxes. The latter novel, set in the multicultural metropolis of London, interweaves themes such as the psychological toll of war, love and loss, resilience, the way we coexist with one another and with non-humans, and the true nature of happiness.

Forna will join us from the US for a virtual live Q&A session about her latest novel Happiness hosted by Professor Stef Craps. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with a unique link to access the meeting via Zoom.

The session will begin at 4 p.m. CET and end no later than 6 p.m. CET. Doors open at 3.45 p.m. CET.