Reading and Discussion with Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

by Oduor Obura

26 June 2019
Bookshop Sputnik, Potsdam
Moderated by Oduor Obura

The Kenyan writer Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor read from her recently released novel "The Dragonfly Sea". At the heart of the story is Ayaana, a young woman who lives in Pate Island, off the coast Kenya and also has Chinese roots. This can be traced to the 15th century and from the fleet of legendary Chinese admiral Zheng He. Owuor's oceanic novel offers much more than one simple story of growing up or exchanges between China and East Africa, because it crosses an ocean, playing on two continents, covers several lives and at least six languages and exceeds it more than just physical limits. The reading is a chance to engage on Afrasian connections, conversations and beyond.