Spring 2014 semester, Georgia State University will host five writers, one from each of the GSU focus countries: Brazil, China, South Korea, South Africa, and Turkey. Writers will read from their work and answer questions. All events are Friday at 11 am in the 100 Auburn Avenue auditorium.
Five from Five is hosted by the Center for Collaborative and International Arts, Center for Collaborative Scholarship in the Humanities, Confucius Institute, Asian Studies Center, College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, College of Arts and Sciences International Programs, Political Science Honor Society, Honors College.
KOREA March 7 Therese Park, The Northern Wind: Forced Journey to North Korea, iUniverse, 2012, Novel
Born and raised in South Korea, Therese Park came to the United States to be a cellist with the Kansas City Philharmonic (now the Kansas City Symphony) in 1966. After 30 years, she retired and began writing seriously. She has written several novels and published 80 articles and essays during the past decades. In 2006, she was selected to write Midwest Voices column for the Kansas City Star Opinion page. Since January 2009, she has been writing Commentary for the Kansas City Star-Johnson County Neighborhood News. www.theresepark.com/
CHINA February 7 Da Chen, Colors of the Mountain, Anchor, 2001, Memoir
Da Chen arrived in America at the age of 23. He attended Columbia University School of Law on a full scholarship, and upon graduating, worked for the Wall Street investment banking firm of Rothschilds, Inc. He now lives in California, writes, plays the bamboo flute, and demonstrates calligraphy. He is the author of seven novels, three of which are for young adult readers. www.dachen.org/
BRAZIL February 21
Edgard T. Ribeiro I Would Have Loved Him, If I Had Not Killed Him; A Novel, St. Martins, 1994, Novel
Edgard Ribeiro is a diplomat for the Brazilian government, working in New York City. His brother is Hermano Riberio, Consul-General for Brazil in Atlanta.
SOUTH AFRICA March 28
Zakes Mda Ways of Dying, Picador, 2002, Novel
Zakes Mda is a novelist, playwright, painter, poet, music composer. Originally from South Africa, he now lives in the USA and is a Creative Writing professor at Ohio University. He has written 7 novels set in South Africa which won awards there as well as awards in the United States such as the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award and the American Library Association Notable Books in the USA. One of his novels is set in the USA and was shortlisted for the NAACP Image Award. He has also written a memoir and young adults’ and children’s fiction.
http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Dying-Novel-Zakes-Mda/dp/0312420919
TURKEY April 18 Mustafa Akyol, Islam without Extremes , Norton 2011, Nonfiction
Mustafa Akyol, an advocate of "Muslim liberalism," is a columnist for two Turkish newspapers, Hürriyet Daily News and Star. His articles have also appeared in publications such as Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune. He studied political science and history at the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, where he still lives. http://thewhitepath.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Islam-without-Extremes-Muslim-Liberty/dp/0393070867
Akyol is also the College of Arts and Sciences 2014 Plummer Lecturer, April 17, 2014, Speakers’ Auditorium. Time TBA.
