The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center presents Bisi Adjapon, author of critically acclaimed novel The Teller of Secrets and winner of a Civil Rights Award from the US Foreign Service. Adjapon’s new novel, Daughter in Exile, was released on January 31st, 2023. It has received several starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and has been listed as a must-read for 2023 by Essence magazine as well as a most anticipated read from The Root.
Bisi Adjapon will be on George Mason University’s campus on February 15th from 1:30-3:00 pm during a mini book festival from Fall for the Book, as part of the festival’s year-long programming. This event is in partnership with the Cheuse Center. You can RSVP for the free event here.
Adjapon will be in conversation with Helon Habila, GMU MFA professor, and most recently author of the beautiful novel Travelers.
Both Adjapon and Habila’s novels touch on themes that the writer Salman Rushdie speaks of too: “We are increasingly becoming a world of migrants, made up of bits and fragments from here, there. We are here. And we have never really left anywhere we have been.”
Adjapon and Habila will be joined by artist and poet Bennie Herron, who will be displaying his original artwork from Mason Exhibition’s “Origin Stories”. The mini-fest event will take place in the Fenwick Reading Room on the second floor of the Fenwick Library.
In Daughter in Exile, Adjapon details the heart-wrenching, awe-inspiring story of a Ghanaian woman’s transformative journey across nations, communities, and through mother love. Lola, a resourceful young woman with a flourishing career and family in 1990’s Senegal, finds herself abruptly stranded and pregnant in America—in her pursuit of U.S. citizenship for her forthcoming child—after her lover, a U.S. Marine, disavows them.
What follows is a harrowing series of trials and tribulations for this determined soon-to-be mother as she battles alienation, discrimination, and exploitation in a country that doesn’t recognize her worth. Her story illuminates the struggles of countless immigrants, fearing that one day, despite their many efforts, they may still lose everything.
Publishers Weekly described the novel as “Sharp, observant, and often bitingly funny,” declaring Adjapon’s work “a winner,” which “captures a country divided by class, ethnicity, and political loyalty and a character who might have a chance to soar on the winds of social change.”
Maaza Mangiste, author of The Shadow King, reaffirms this praise, noting the novel as “insightful and riveting,” and, “a deft exploration of motherhood and love, told through the eyes of a young woman determined to create her world on her terms.”
Daughter in Exile serves as a fine Spring companion to the Cheuse Center’s Fall 2022 visitor Elena Medel’s novel, The Wonders, which explores class and the struggles of women in contemporary Spain. These two books build on the Cheuse Center’s mission to spark empathy and curiosity across cultures.
Look out for the next installment covering Adjapon’s actual visit to the DC area!
February 08, 2023