Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah (Professor of Postcolonial Literatures and Director of the Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies in the School of English) has been invited to speak at an international symposium in Washington this week.

The Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, is hosting a symposium entitled ‘Connecting the Gems of the Indian Ocean: Eastern Africa – Swahili Civilization, Oman and the Gulf’.

The symposium opens with a discussion hosted by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the prolific and internationally celebrated literary figure, with fellow authors MG Vassanji and Abdulrazak Gurnah.

The panel will discuss the art of storytelling, ideas of cultural belonging, and personal experiences of growing up in East Africa.

The authors will read sections from their most recent award-winning novels, including Professor Gurnah’s 1994 novel Paradise which was shortlisted for both the Booker and Whitbread Prizes.

The day-long symposium will focus on the historic, commercial and cultural links that existed between the lands of the East African Swahili Coast, Oman and other countries of the Middle Eastern Gulf region.