Revolution and Resilience: Global Politics in Fiction

Three supremely talented writers with a global perspective will open our eyes to historical and contemporary cycles of oppression and resistance as only the best fiction writers can. NoViolet Bulawayo was a National Book Foundation “5 under 35” honoree and a Booker Prize finalist for We Need New Names. Now, in Glory, she has constructed a postcolonial fable in which animals stand in for humans. The resulting satirical narrative represents the ouster of Robert Mugabe in Bulawayo’s native Zimbabwe, as well as other oppressive regimes and their countervailing resistance movements globally. In contrast, Uzma Aslam Khan’s The Miraculous History of Nomi Ali is set in a very particular time and place—the Andaman Islands during their WWII occupation by the Japanese. Aslam Khan’s novel excavates layers of colonialism and occupation, and is a testament to the stories and survival of people largely forgotten to history. Finally, debut novelist Aamina Ahmad, in The Return of Faraz Ali, constructs a politically charged murder mystery, in which a police officer returns to his childhood home in Lahore, only to grapple with both its political and his personal history. Expansive and empathetic, these authors’ work will enrich our understanding of our world.

The bookstore partner for this session is Marcus Books! Buy the books online at Bookshop.org or purchase them in person at the Festival. More information here.

Book signing information: Marcus Books Tent at the Bookstore Blv (corner of Allston & Milvia in the Outdoor Fair) at in the park, 1:45 PM