A Conversation with Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

Date & Time: Monday, April 24, 2023
6-7:30 pm

Location: BU Morse Auditorium
602 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

Event Description: Please join us for an evening in conversation with Abdulrazak Gurnah, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature (learn more). This event will include a conversation between BU Professors Preston and Zaman and Gurnah that is open to the public. 

The following day, April 25th, will open with continued conversation with Abdulrazak Gurnah, followed by panels focusing on art, activism, and research on forced displacement. CFD conference will also include student poster presentations related to forced displacement, and close with a Suitcase Stories storytelling event followed by a reception. Learn more below.

This event is sponsored by the Boston University Center on Forced Displacement, Kilachand Honors College, Pardee School of Global Studies, BU Arts Initiative, College of Arts & Sciences Center for Humanities, and the Mellon Foundation.

Register for Event: Admission is free and open to the public; a reservation will ensure a place. Register Here

Attendance: (For Kilachand Honors College Students) At the event, a QR will be posted for you to check-in. This QR will expire so please complete the check-in form immediately. You must check-in to earn co-curricular attendance credit for this event. Please note that co-curricular credit will only be given for the Monday, April 24 event and will not be available for the Tuesday, April 25 symposium. 

Learn more about Abdulrazak Gurnah

Photo Credit: Mark Pringle

Gurnah is the celebrated author of novels as well as critical studies of postcolonial literature. He grew up on the island of Zanzibar, but was forcibly displaced when, in the 1960s, the oppression and persecution of citizens of Arab origin was rampant in the country. He eventually received asylum in England. His novels regularly depict the impacts of decolonization in East Africa through an uncompromising refusal of oversimplification but tremendous compassion for his characters and their struggles.