Tinsley Pens Novel Based on Experiences in Darfur
Former BBC journalist and human rights activist Rebecca Tinsley—a member of the Advisory Council for Bennington's Center for the Advancement of Public Action—has penned a new novel based on the stories of genocide survivors she met while doing humanitarian work in Darfur.
The novel, When the Stars Fall to Earth, follows five young Darfuri refugees as they run from their villages to escape certain death from the Sudanese militia.
"When I interviewed survivors in the Darfur refugee camps in 2004 they asked me to tell the world their story," Tinsley says. "Since then I have written articles and given speeches, but I knew I needed to reach a wider audience on a more human level. I needed to bridge the gap between our Western experiences and theirs, and that is best done creating a novel about very ordinary but brave people who keep going despite enormous challenges."
Tinsley will read from her novel and talk more generally about Sudan on Tuesday, June 21, at 1:15 pm, at the UN Office of Baha'i International Community in New York (view details), and later in the evening, at 7:00 pm, at the Loft of Thomas Rochan.
Tinsley, who has documented the vast human rights violations that have plagued Africa for decades, is the founder of Network4Africa and Waging Peace, non-governmental organizations that address genocide and provide assistance to survivors. Proceeds from the novel will directly support their work.
For more information, see her website.