Authors Kwame Dawes, Helon Habila & Dinaw Mengestu Read April 30, 2007

Vertigo Books and TransAfrica Forum's Writer's Corner present a special group reading and discussion by three extraordinarily talented writers. For information, please call 301-779-9300.

Dawes’ She’s Gone explores the powerful psychology of desire. A prominent Jamaican reggae singer falls in love with an African American woman while on tour in South Carolina. Both are tied to their places of birth and culture but in search of a place to belong. Dawes’ vibrant characters and strong emotions bring Kofi and Keisha’s struggle to forge a relationship across a cultural and psychological divide alive. Dawes is an award-winning Ghanian-born Jamaican author of several books. He teaches at the University of South Carolina and is the programmer for the annual Jamaican Calabash International Literary Festival.

Habila’s Measuring Time is a heart-wrenching history of Nigeria as witnessed by one family living in the village of Keti. Twins, Mamo and LaMamo, dream of leaving the village someday. They attempt to flee their domineering father, but only LaMamo escapes successfully, becoming a soldier who meets beautiful women. Mamo remains in the village with his father. He gains local fame as a historian and begins to write a "true" history of his people. But when the rains fail and famine rages, LaMamo returns to fight the enemy at home. Habila is the author of the award-winning Waiting for an Angel and currently teaches at George Mason University.

Mengestu’s The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears is a deeply affecting and unforgettable debut novel. Sepha Stephanos fled the Ethiopian Revolution after witnessing soldiers beat his father to death. Now he finds himself running a grocery store in a changing African American neighborhood in DC. His only companions are two fellow African immigrants who share his feelings of frustration and nostalgia for home. He realizes that his life has turned out differently than the one he had imagined. Hope comes in the form of new neighbors. Mengestu is currently the Lannan Visiting Writer at Georgetown University.

For more information, please call 301-779-9300.

All are welcome to attend our readings but if you wish to have a book signed, it must be purchased at Vertigo Books, rather than at a competitor.

Official Website: http://www.vertigo-books.com/