Saturday, November 22, 2014

Somali author Nuruddin Farah on 'Hiding in Plain Sight' | Minnesota Public Radio News

Somali author Nuruddin Farah on 'Hiding in Plain Sight' | Minnesota Public Radio News

Nuruddin Farah: Novelist

Author Nuruddin Farah is out with his 12th novel, "Hiding in Plain Sight." The story revolves around an African family facing extreme tragedy and grief.
The book begins with a Somali UN official dying in an explosion shortly after receiving threatening notes from a terrorist.
Next we meet the dead man's half-sister, a glamorous photographer named Bella. She lives a life of sophisticated pleasures, in Rome and other places, but her brother's demise sinks her deeply in grief. Since his wife has long-ago abandoned the kids, Bella puts Rome and lovers behind her, packs her bags, and cameras, and heads to Nairobi to pick up her niece and nephew at boarding school. In Farah's words, she feels "she is answering a call to serve, almost a religious calling."

Nuruddin, born in Somalia, joins The Daily Circuit to talk about his latest novel. He told NPR about telling the story of his native country through fiction:
"I go to Somalia a great deal, perhaps, in part, to feed my imagination and also to be in touch with the experiences that other Somalis go through on a daily basis," he said. "But, in terms of writing as a writer, there's always a daily challenge when one goes into one's studio to write. And the bravest thing, I think, for a writer is to face an empty page. Almost everything else is less challenging until it comes to ... someone close to you -- as close as Basra was to me -- fall[ing] a victim to terrorism."

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