Embassy of the United States of AmericaAlgiers, Algeria
October 28, 2018
Contact: algierspress@state.gov
The United States Embassy in Algiers is honored to participate in the 2018 Algiers International Book Fair (SILA) and invites you to visit its booth located at the central pavilion of SAFEX to participate in a full slate of programs and activities. The U.S. Embassy is also pleased to announce the participation of four distinguished American authors in this year’s event.
Uzodinma Iweala is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and medical doctor. He is the CEO of The Africa Center in New York, promoting a new narrative about Africa and its diaspora through a focus on culture, policy and business. Uzodinma is the Co-Founder of Ventures Africa Magazine, a publication that covers business, policy, culture and innovation spaces in Africa. He has written three books to international acclaim: Beasts of No Nation (2005), a novel also adapted into a major motion picture; Our Kind of People (2012), a non-fiction account of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria; and Speak no Evil (2018), a novel about Washington, D.C. Instagram: @uiweala.
Taiye Selasi, a graduate of Oxford and Yale, is the bestselling author of Ghana Must Go, an electric and exhilarating family saga that takes readers from Accra to Lagos to London to New York. Named one of Granta’s “20 Best Young British Writers,” Selasi redefines the African novel as she explores the importance of origin and kin in shaping identity.
Matthew Connelly works in international and global history. He received his B.A. from Columbia (1990) and his Ph.D. from Yale. His publications include A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria’s Fight for Independence and the Origins of the Post-Cold War Era (2002), and Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population (2008). He has written research articles in Comparative Studies in Society and History, The International Journal of Middle East Studies, The American Historical Review, The Review francaise d’histoire d’Outre-mer, and Past & Present.
Emmanuel Boundzéki Dongala is a chemist, short story writer, novelist, and playwright. His novel, The Fires of Origins, received the Grand Prix d’Afrique Noire and the Grand Prix de la Fondation de France. His novel, Johnny Mad Dog, was selected by the Los Angeles Times as one of its books of the year. In 1999, Emmanuel Dongala was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 2003, he was the winner of the prestigious Fonlon-Nichols Prize 2003 for literary excellence. His works have been translated into a dozen different languages.
Programming at the U.S. booth will feature reading clubs and activities for young people, opportunities for English-langauge learning, discussions on American culture, as well as presentations on U.S. government exchange programs, studying in the United States, Consular issues, U.S. efforts to increase trade and commercial links with Algeria, and many other topics. Join us at SILA2018, and follow our coverage on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram through the hashtags #USASILAChronicles and #USatSILA2018.
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