Acclaimed Rwandan-French poet and author Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse talks to Fergal Keane about her at once horrifying and moving memoir of surviving the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse was 15 at the height of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Miraculously, after weeks surrounded by scenes of petrifying violence, she and her mother found a place on a convoy to safety. The Convoy, translated from the French by Ruth Diver, is the story of that journey, assembled through memory, archive photography, and records and accounts by journalists and fellow escapees. Mairesse visits Foyles to share her story.
Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse was born in Butare in Rwanda in 1979. She was fifteen when she survived the genocide against the Tutsi. She settled in France and has become a writer. Her first novel All Your Children, Scattered and Consolée, her second, were both applauded by critics and booksellers and won prizes.
Fergal Keane is an Irish foreign correspondent with BBC News, and the author of several books, including The Madness: A Memoir of War, Fear and PTSD and Wounds: A Memoir of Love and War.
The event will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. This event was developed in partnership with the Institut Français in London. Your ticket includes a complimentary glass of wine.
Tickets: £10 General Admission / £23 Book and Ticket, inc. a copy of The Convoy (RRP £20) Venue: The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road*
*Please note that the Auditorium at Foyles is fully accessible from the Ground floor lifts.
https://www.foyles.co.uk/events/beata-umubyeyi-mairesse-in-conversation
