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Interviews with well-known authors from Britain and around the world

Interviews with well-known authors from Britain and around the world, looking at what drives their work and concentrating on their literary life story.

Talking Books: Aminatta Forna

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Aminatta Forna

13/05/2013

BBC World Service - Talking Books, Aminatta Forna

Why author Aminatta Forna is drawn to the topics of betrayal, love and loss

Why author Aminatta Forna is drawn to the topics of betrayal, love and loss.

Talking Books meets Aminatta Forna who was born in Scotland and raised in Sierra Leone. Her father, a former finance minister in the country, was hanged in Sierra Leone in 1975 after being falsely accused of treason. Her first book investigated the events surrounding her father’s death and is an exploration of how, 25 years later, Sierra Leone imploded into civil war. 

Through her work she wants to reverse the gaze used by much of Western fiction, especially in regards to Africa. She talks to Razia Iqbal about her focus on countries that have experienced conflict and why she believes fiction can break the silence of trauma. Why does she feel drawn to the topics of betrayal, love and loss?

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