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Page 6 • Cognotes 2014 Midwinter January Preview—Philadelphia
Ishmael Beah to Present Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture
Don't miss the opportunity to be inspired and moved by human rights advocate and bestselling author Ishmael Beah whose first book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier has been published in over thirty languages and has helped shine an international spotlight on critical issues related to children and war.
At the age of twelve, Beah fled attacking rebels. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and though gentle by nature, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. His first book is seen as a tale of redemption and hope. Beah crosses over to fiction in his forthcoming novel, Radiance of Tomorrow (January 2014, Macmillan), which is already garnering rave reviews.
Ishmael Beah was born in 1980 in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He has been published in The New York Times Magazine, Vespertine Press, LIT, Parabola, and numerous academic journals. He is a UNICEF Ambassador and Advocate for Children Affected by War; a member of the Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Advisory Committee; an advisory board member at the Center for the Study of Youth and Political Violence at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; visiting scholar at the Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University; visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights at Rutgers University; cofounder of the Network of Young People Affected by War (NYPAW); and president of the Ishmael Beah Foundation. He has spoken before the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations, and many panels on the effects of war on children. Time magazine named A Long Way Gone as number three on their list of the top ten nonfiction books of 2007.
Sponsored by Macmillan
Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture Saturday, January 25 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
This lecture series commemorates Arthur Curley's lifelong dedication to the principles of intellectual freedom and free public access to information. A champion of the arts and of the library's role as a center that can transform the community, Curley was director of the Boston Public Library and served as ALA president.
Ishmael Beah
PHILADELPHIA
Click here to REGISTER for Midwinter
President's Program
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is no longer an escape from our world, but an invitation to change it for the better.” Slack will be welcomed by Barbara K. Stripling at the ALA President's Program on Sunday, January 26, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Under Slack's Leadership, the Harry Potter Alliance has created over 170 chapters in schools and communities (and soon libraries) across the US and world. These chapters and hundreds of thousands of members have built libraries, sent five cargo planes to Haiti, and made great strides in both human rights and equality-based advocacy. As a Nathan Cummings Foundation Fellow for his innovation in social justice work, Slack is spending one year in New York City developing the Imagine Better Network. He has been profiled in Fast Company, NPR, NYT, the front cover of Forbes.com, and written for both the LA Times and CNN. He's given two TEDx talks and served as a keynote speaker at the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.
The Harry Potter Alliance is a coalition of fandom leaders and members who feel passionate about the power of story to inspire and affect social change. Just as Harry and his friends fought the Dark Arts in JK Rowling's fictional universe, they “strive to destroy real-world horcruxes like inequality, illiteracy, and human rights violations.” Also, look for the Harry Potter Alliance booth in the Exhibit Hall.
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