Author Nadia Owusu to Deliver Keynote at Howard Community College’s Third Annual Bauder Lecture
COLUMBIA, MD – Brooklyn-based writer, urbanist, and author, Nadia Owusu, will deliver two keynote lectures at Howard Community College’s (HCC) third annual Bauder Lecture on September 21, 2023. The 12:30 p.m. lecture will be offered in person and on Vimeo, and the 6 p.m. lecture will be in person only. Ms. Owusu will be reading from her book, “Aftershocks,” a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick. Both keynote lectures will be followed by an in-depth conversation with Washington, D.C.-based writer, Tope Folarin.
"Among many outstanding books by exciting and important new writers, Nadia Owusu's memoir was the first choice for this year in that it offers students and our whole HCC community profound new ways to understand each other in a world complicated by divisions of seismic proportions between nations, among families, and within ourselves," said Dr. Tara Hart, professor of English, department chair of humanities and world languages, and co-chair of the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo) Board of Directors.
Winner of the Whiting Award in nonfiction, named one of former President Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year, and selected by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai for her Literati book club, Owusu shares the incredible story of her young life reflecting on the push and pull of belonging, the seismic emotional toll of family secrets, and the heart it takes to pull through in her memoir, “Aftershocks.” Owusu’s Armenian-American mother, who abandoned her when she was two, would periodically reappear only to vanish again. She also recounts how she followed her father, a United Nations official who died when she was 13, from Europe to Africa and back again. After his passing, Owusu’s stepmother weighed her down with a revelation that was either a bombshell secret or a lie, rife with shaming innuendo.
“In ‘Aftershocks,’ Nadia Owusu tells the incredible story of her young life. How does a girl—abandoned by her mother at age two and orphaned at thirteen when her beloved father dies—find her place in the world? This memoir is the story of Nadia creating her own solid ground across countries and continents. I know the struggle of rebuilding your life in an unfamiliar place. While some of you might be familiar with that and some might not, I hope you’ll take as much inspiration and hope from her story as I did,” said Malala Yousafzai in her book review.
Nigerian-American writer based in Washington, D.C., Tope Folarin, will moderate an in-depth “Aftershocks” discussion. He currently serves as the Director of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He received the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Whiting Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, among other awards. He attended Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, earning two master’s degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. His debut novel, “A Particular Kind of Black Man,” was published by Simon & Schuster.
The Bauder Lecture by Howard Community College is made possible by a generous grant from Dr. Lillian Bauder, a community leader and Columbia resident. "It is my pleasure to help make it possible for HCC to host diverse, contemporary authors whose great stories will inspire students to co-create a more just, enlightened, and compassionate world,” said Dr. Lillian Bauder.
“Aftershocks” was selected by the Howard County Book Connection committee as its choice for the 2023–2024 academic year. The Howard County Book Connection is a partnership of Howard Community College and the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo). Visit the Howard County Book Connection web page for additional information. HoCoPoLitSo and the Howard County Library System have partnered with Howard Community College for this event.
The 12:30 p.m. hybrid Bauder Lecture will be offered in HCC’s Smith Theatre. The 6 p.m. in person only lecture will take place in HCC’s Monteabaro Recital Hall and will be preceded by a 5 p.m. reception. Both Bauder Lectures will be followed by a book signing and will take place in the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD.
To learn more about the Bauder Lecture and RSVP for the event, visit howardcc.edu/bauderlecture.