Morowa Yejidé ’92, author of “Time of the Locust,” will give a reading at Kalamazoo College on Feb. 16

Posted on by Andy Brown
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Morowa Yejidé ’92 reads from her work at 7 p.m. Tue., Feb. 16 in the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.

The Kalamazoo College Department of English will host a reading and discussion with author Morowa Yejidé ’92 at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16 in the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, 205 Monroe Street, on the K campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Yejidé’s novel “Time of the Locust” was a 2012 finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize. Her short stories have appeared in Adirondack Review, Istanbul Review, and other literary publications. Her short story “Tokyo Chocolate” was a 2009 Pushcart Prize nominee that was also anthologized by Britain’s “Best of the Willesden Herald Series” and praised by the Japan Times. Yejidé was also a 2015 NAACP Image Award nominee and is currently a PEN/Faulkner Writers in Schools author.

Time of the Locust, her debut novel, is described as a deeply imaginative journey into the heart and mind of seven-year-old Sephiri, an autistic boy who can draw scientifically accurate renderings of prehistoric locusts but never speaks, makes eye contact, or smiles. The book explores the themes of a mother’s devotion, a father’s punishment, and the power of love.

orowa Yejide Cover_PRINT FINAL_April 17 2014Morowa Yejidé (pronounced: Moe-roe-wah Yay-gee-day) earned her B.A. degree from Kalamazoo College in international area studies and her M.F.A. degree in creative writing from Wilkes University, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. She is a research faculty member at Georgia Institute of Technology and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and three sons.

During her visit to K, Morowa will also meet with students in the African American Literature class taught by Professor of English Bruce Mills, Ph.D., and the Intermediate Fiction Workshop taught by Professor of English Andy Mozina, Ph.D.

Read more about Morowa Yejidé and her work on her website (http://morowayejide.com) and on the Michigan Colleges Alliance “Alum of the Day” webpage (http://wearetheindependents.com/alumni/morowa-yejide) where she reveals her favorite place to hang out on the K campus.

Welcome back to campus, Morowa. (The library is even better than when you were a student!)