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“The Color Line by Igiaba Scego, translated by John Cullen and Gregory Conti
It was exciting to see this ambitious novel by one of Italy’s most important writers come out in English; when I read it in Italian, I was struck by the deft interweaving of through-lines between artistic, political, and personal histories. Blending real and re-invented lives, Scego creates a portrait of two Black women, centuries apart, making their way in Italy; each one confronts questions of seeing and being seen. In its reckonings with racism and colonialism, The Color Line explores the potential for artists to reclaim line and colour in the name of justice.”
Read more in The Guardian.
“Being Black in Venice”
A Conversation with Shaul Bassi and Igiaba Scego
October 18th 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Where: FHI Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4, Smith Warehouse
Shaul Bassi is is Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies and Centre for Environmental Humanities at Ca’ Foscari, the University of Venice. He is the director of the Center for Humanities and Social Change at Ca’ Foscari. His research focuses on English literature, Shakespeare, postcolonial literature, otherness, and Jewish Venetians. He is author of numerous books, including Shakespeare’s Italy and Italy’s Shakespeare: Place, “Race” Politics (2016), and editor of even more, including Experiences of freedom in postcolonial literatures and cultures. He has also written on environmental issues, especially as experienced in Venice.
Music by Sara Serpa
Words by Igiaba Scego
(from La mia casa è dove sono – My Home Is Where I Am – translated by Aaron Robertson)
Sara Serpa presents her new work “Encounters and Collisions”, a commission by Chamber Music America, drawing inspiration from Igiaba Scego’s My Home is Where I Am, a memoir that reflects on identity, migrations and conflicts, and post-colonial relationships between Africa and Europe.
On October 14th, Italian author Igiaba Scego was in conversation with Portuguese musician Sara Serpa about the creative process of transforming artworks, from visual to literary and literary to musical. Sara Serpa’s musical piece “Encounters and Collisions,” was performed on October 15th at 7:00 p.m. in the Nelson Music Room, inspired by Igiaba Scego’s memoir La mia casa è dove sono (My Home is Where I am).
Igiaba Scego’s latest book, The Color Line, was published in the US on October 4th and you can read an excerpt on LitHub.
“When I was attending the university, I had a friend from the Castles named Lorella. We both took courses in classical Arabic at the Università La Sapienza in Rome, but the truth is, I never really learned Arabic.
Nevertheless, studying that language at least allowed me to understand the meaning of my name, Leila: night.”
Continue reading on LitHub.
Igiaba Scego, an author born in Rome to Somali parents, recommends books that draw readers through the rich layers that make up her hometown.
Read the full article in the New York Times.
The important Italian author, Igiaba Scego, is currently a visiting scholar in Romance Studies at Duke University. Igiaba Scego has a recent article on Rome in the New York Times. She is the author of multiple Italian stories and novels, including several that have been translated into English: Beyond Babylon, Adua, and The Color Line. She has edited and appeared in numerous collections of refugee literature, African literature, migrant literature, women’s writing, and Afro-Italian writing, reflecting her Somali roots. She holds a PhD in education on postcolonial subjects. Below are upcoming events connected to her and her work. We hope you can join us!
“What is citizenship?” October 6th 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Where: FHI Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4, Smith Warehouse
Mia Fuller (UC Berkeley), Shai Ginsburg (Duke), Igiaba Scego (Author and Visiting Scholar, Duke)
Global Jewish Modernism’s “What is…” Dialogue Series: Each dialogue involves the examination of one term and its representation and use in diverse geographical and historical contexts, both within Jewish Studies and outside of it. Each conversation involves at least two scholars, one from Duke and one from another institution.
“Transforming Arts” October 14th, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Where: The Pink Parlor in East Duke Building on East Campus
Preceded by light refreshments at 11:30 a.m.
Join us for a conversation between the Italian author Igiaba Scego and Portuguese musician Sara Serpa about the creative process of transforming artworks, from visual to literary and literary to musical. Sara Serpa’s musical piece “Encounters and Collisions,” which will be performed on October 15th at 7:00 p.m. in the Nelson Music Room, is inspired by Igiaba Scego’s memoir La mia casa è dove sono (My Home is Where I am). Igiaba Scego’s novel The Color Line, which was just published in English translation, portrays the journey of Lafanu Brown, a character inspired by the African American visual artists Sarah Parker Redmond and Edmonia Lewis. What challenges and opportunities do these adaptations across media present?
“Encounters and Collisions” October 15th, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Where: Nelson Music Room, 1304 Campus Drive, East Campus
Sara Serpa presents her new work “Encounters and Collisions”, a commission by Chamber Music America, drawing inspiration from Igiaba Scego’s My Home is Where I Am, a memoir that reflects on identity, migrations and conflicts, and post-colonial relationships between Africa and Europe.
“Being Black in Venice” October 18th 5:00-7:00 p.m.
A Conversation with Shaul Bassi and Igiaba Scego
Where: FHI Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall, Bay 4, Smith Warehouse
The Color Line, Igiaba Scego’s latest book, was published in the US on October 5th by Other Press. The novel was translated into English by John Cullen and Gregory Conti.
From the publisher’s website:
“Inspired by true events, this gorgeous, haunting novel intertwines the lives of two Black female artists more than a century apart, both outsiders in Italy.
It was the middle of the nineteenth century when Lafanu Brown audaciously decided to become an artist. In the wake of the American Civil War, life was especially tough for Black women, but she didn’t let that stop her. The daughter of a Native American woman and an African-Haitian man, Lafanu had the rare opportunity to study, travel, and follow her dreams, thanks to her indomitable spirit, but not without facing intolerance and violence. Now, in 1887, living in Rome as one of the city’s most established painters, she is ready to tell her fiancé about her difficult life, which began in a poor family forty years earlier.
In 2019, an Italian art curator of Somali origin is desperately trying to bring to Europe her younger cousin, who is only sixteen and has already tried to reach Italy on a long, treacherous journey. While organizing an art exhibition that will combine the paintings of Lafanu Brown with the artworks of young migrants, the curator becomes more and more obsessed with the life and secrets of the nineteenth-century painter.
Weaving together these two vibrant voices, Igiaba Scego has crafted a powerful exploration of what it means to be “other,” to be a woman, and particularly a Black woman, in a foreign country, yesterday and today.”
I am a first-year student taking Italian 101 with the goal of becoming fluent in the language to allow me to speak with my family in Italy. I was fortunate enough to be presented with the opportunity to deepen my understanding of the Italian and Somalian cultures through engaging with the work of Igiaba Scego. She came to Duke to present a live reading of a portion of her new book entitled “La mia casa è dove sono”, followed by a Q&A session with students of Italian. It was both fascinating and awe-inspiring to hear her read from the book in Italian, and to process her thoughtful responses to the variety of questions asked by my peers. It is not every day you get to hear from and speak directly with such a distinguished, incredible author and person. I was even able to talk with her one-on-one following the event. I was truly encouraged by her explanation of how she has faced adversity and discrimination in her life by leaning into her strong character and engaging with literature. I greatly admired the way she described herself as a “happy person” despite the challenges she has been presented with. I also loved her explanation that she does not use her writing as an escape from reality, but as an outlet through which she can channel her emotions into something beautiful.
