Maaza Mengiste in conversation with Kamila Shamsie

These aren’t the days to pretend you’re only a wife or a sister or a mother, she says. We’re more than this.

In her stunning Booker Prize shortlisted novel, The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste creates a sweeping tale in which she writes back into history the women who fought in the Second Italo-Ethiopian war. There are many shadows cast across the story: of gender expectations, of religious persecution, of the misuse of power; but Maaza meets these with everyday heroic characters who demonstrate that a narrative can be reshaped. Maaza is an Ethiopian-American author of two novels. Her debut, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, was named one of the Ten Best Contemporary African Books by The Guardian. Maaza will be in conversation with MLF Patron and award-winning novelist Kamila Shamsie. Presented in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester and sponsored by Weightmans.

This event will be CAPTIONED.

Approximate running time 60 minutes

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