Storytelling at The Lit Fest: Kabu Okai-Davies and Lieve Joris

About Kabu Okai-Davies:

Kabu Okai-Davies is an Australian writer from Ghana. He is the author of two poetry collections, The Long Road to Africa and Symphony of Words, and two collections of short stories. He recently published Curfew’s Children, a childhood memoir set in Ghana, and completed a novel, In Another Man’s Name, set in Newark, New Jersey. Okai-Davies is the founder of African Globe TheatreWorks in Newark, where he was a producer from 1992-2005. He has been a Playwright-In-Residence at the Street Theatre in Canberra and producer at the National Multicultural Festival, and currently manages the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre.

Okai-Davies shared a traditional African folktale about Anansi the Spider for Beijing Storytellers at The Bookworm Literary Festival. More information about The Bookworm and its events are available here.

About Lieve Joris:

Lieve Joris is one of Europe’s leading nonfiction writers, with award-winning books on Hungary, the Middle East, and Africa. In 1985 she set sail to the former Belgian colony of Congo, where her great-uncle had been a missionary. Congo became a recurring theme in her work, leading successively to Back to the Congo, The Leopard’s Dance, The Rebels’ Hour, and The High Plains. Her most recent book, On The Wings of The Dragon, is about her journeys between Africa and China, written after she submerged herself in the world of Africans and Chinese who ventured into each other’s territory. Joris was born in Belgium and currently lives in Amsterdam.Brought to you with the kind support of the Flemish Literature Fund and the Embassy of Belgium in Beijing.

Joris shared a true story of her journey to Congo, which has inspired much of her writing.