A State of Exile

Kwame Alexander and Amanda West Lewis

A State of Exile

Kwame Alexander and Amanda West Lewis

11:00am

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Lakeside Terrace

60 mins

Two historic novels; two studies in collusion, complicity and culpability; two young people trying to take a stand and protect those they love; and one fascinating discussion. Kwame Alexander’s latest novel-in-verse, The Door of No Return, follows Kofi, a Ghanaian boy living in an Asante village under British colonial rule. Set in 1860, months before the outbreak of the American Civil War and decades after the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, it depicts the persistence of a clandestine slave trade enabled by complicit lawmakers. In Focus. Click. Wind by Amanda West Lewis, it is 1968 and The Vietnam War has brought new urgency to the life of Billie Taylor, a 17-year-old aspiring photojournalist. When Billie attends a Columbia University student protest and Senator Bobby Kennedy is assassinated, her mother decides to move to Canada and live in a backwater called Toronto but Billie doesn’t take her exile lightly.

Moderated by Arpita Ghosal, Writer & Curator at SesayaArts Magazine.

This event will be followed by a book signing.

Conversation

How to attend

$39.99

Single Day Pass

$69.99

Weekend Pass

$249.99

Full Festival Pass

Students and youth save up to 50% on passes.

Two historic novels; two studies in collusion, complicity and culpability; two young people trying to take a stand and protect those they love; and one fascinating discussion. Kwame Alexander’s latest novel-in-verse, The Door of No Return, follows Kofi, a Ghanaian boy living in an Asante village under British colonial rule. Set in 1860, months before the outbreak of the American Civil War and decades after the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, it depicts the persistence of a clandestine slave trade enabled by complicit lawmakers. In Focus. Click. Wind by Amanda West Lewis, it is 1968 and The Vietnam War has brought new urgency to the life of Billie Taylor, a 17-year-old aspiring photojournalist. When Billie attends a Columbia University student protest and Senator Bobby Kennedy is assassinated, her mother decides to move to Canada and live in a backwater called Toronto but Billie doesn’t take her exile lightly.

Moderated by Arpita Ghosal, Writer & Curator at SesayaArts Magazine.

This event will be followed by a book signing.

Conversation

Featured Authors

Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 39 books, including Why Fathers Cry at Night, The Door of No Return, Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson), and The Undefeated, the National Book Award nominee, Newbery Honor and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book. Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. He is the Executive Producer, Showrunner and Writer of The Crossover TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal winning novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney+ in April 2023.

Read more about Kwame Alexander

Amanda West Lewis
Amanda West Lewis is the author of nine books for young readers, including two about Miranda Billie Taylor, These Are Not the Words and Focus. Click. Wind. Her books have been nominated for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, the Violet Downey IODE Award, the Snow Willow Award and others. She is a writer, theater creator, calligrapher, teaching artist and founder of the Ottawa Children’s Theatre. Amanda has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Born in New York City, Amanda now lives in Brooke Valley, Ontario, with her husband, writer Tim Wynne-Jones.

Read more about Amanda West Lewis

11:00am

Saturday, September 30

Lakeside Terrace

60 mins

How to attend

$39.99

Single Day Pass

$69.99

Weekend Pass

$249.99

Full Festival Pass

Students and youth save up to 50% on passes.

What to read

Focus. Click. Wind. by ,
TIFA 2023

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