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Winter Words welcomes novelist Yaa Gyasi

Michael Lionstar

Acclaimed novelist Yaa Gyasi will be in Aspen as part of the Winter Words series on Tuesday. Her first novel, Homegoing, came out last year and was NPR’s Debut Novel of the Year.

Homegoing follows the growth of a family tree over two centuries. The story starts with two half sisters born to different tribal villages in Ghana, each unaware of the other’s existence.

Her inspiration for the novel came from a visit to the Cape Coast Castle, a huge monument to slavery in Ghana.

 

The Ghanaian-American novelist will speak with moderator Farah Jasmine Griffin at the Paepcke Auditorium. Griffin is a scholar and author with a focus on African American Studies at Columbia University.

They will discuss Gyasi’s novel and the role it's playing in today’s cultural and political landscape.

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