The Canisius College Contemporary Writers Series will welcome acclaimed author Abdi Nor Iftin to campus on Thursday, October 24. Iftin will read from his memoir, Call Me American, at 7:00 p.m. in the Montante Cultural Center located at the corner of Main Street and Eastwood Place. He will then host a question and answer period followed by a reception and book signing. The evening is free and open to the public.
Described by Publishers Weekly as “an extraordinary saga,” which “is not just a journey of self-advancement but a quest to break free from ethnic and sectarian hatred,” Call Me American tells the true story of Iftin growing up in war-torn Mogadishu. He learned English by watching American action movies and his love of American culture – film, hip-hop music and fashion – was so great that he became known in Mogadishu as Abdi American.
But when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it became too dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Iftin used his language skills to post secret dispatches from Somalia. He found an audience of worldwide listeners, as his dispatches were featured on the BBC’s World Service and NPR’s “This American Life.”
To learn more about Iftin, his story and his visit to Canisius, click here.
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Submitted by: College Communications
