earthreading Armenian language, Europe, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction

Armenia

Armenian Golgotha: a memoir of the Armenian genocide, 1915-1918 by Grigoris Balakian; translated by Peter Balakian and Aris Sevag

Armenian Golgotha: a memoir of the Armenian genocide, 1915-1918 was written by Father Grigoris Balakian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide. It was originally published in Armenian as two separate volumes: Armenian Golgotha, volume 1 in 1922 and Armenian Golgotha, volume 2 in 1959. It was first published as a single volume, translated into English, in 2009. Grigoris Balakian began writing this memoir as he witnessed and experienced the atrocities of the Armenian genocide. As a bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church, he felt it was his sacred duty to document everything he witnessed during this time.

Father Grigoris Balakian was born in Armenia in 1876. At this time, Armenia was not yet an independent nation, but was still part of the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey). In April 1915, he and 250 other Armenian “cultural leaders” were arrested and deported to the desert of Der Zor (located in modern-day Syria). The arrests were merely a cover to murder these Armenian leaders, in what was the beginning of the Empire’s attempt to annihilate the Christian Armenian people via violence, starvation, exposure and neglect, and forced marches into the middle of an empty desert, where many of their bodies were left to rot in the sun. Father Grigoris eventually escaped and went into hiding, where he began writing his memoirs of the genocide. He died in France in 1934. His great-nephew, Peter Balakian, helped to translate the original two volumes of Armenian Golgotha into English, and succeeded in seeing them published in 2009. Peter Balakian currently lives and teaches in New York State.

earthreading Africa, English language, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction, Prize Winners

Sierra Leone

A long way gone by Ishmael Beah

A long way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier was written by Ishmael Beah in 2007. It is the true story of how Beah – along with thousands of other young boys and teenagers – was kidnapped, given drugs, and forced to fight as soldiers in Sierra Leone’s now infamous civil war. With his family dead and nowhere to go, it would be two years of forced combat before Beah would escape, and then begin his rehabilitation. Beah’s memoir of his time as a child soldier won the 2007 New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Award, the 2008 Christopher Award, and the 2008 Alex Award.

Ishmael Beah was born in 1980 in Sierra Leone. At the age of twelve, his family was murdered and he was forcibly recruited as a child soldier. After two years, he was removed from the army by representatives of UNICEF, along with other underage soldiers fighting alongside him. In 1998, he moved to the United States. Beah is UNICEF’s first Advocate for Children Affected by War, and is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee. Beah currently lives and works in New York City, where he continues to write, as well as advocate for children around the world affected by war.

earthreading Africa, English language, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction, Prize Winners

Liberia

Mighty be our powers: how sisterhood, prayer, and sex changed a nation at war: a memoir by Leymah Gbowee and Carol Mithers

Mighty be our powers: how sisterhood, prayer, and sex changed a nation at war was written by Leymah Gbowee (with Carol Mithers) in 2011. It is the true story of Leymah Gbowee, a survivor of the Liberian Civil War (1989-1996; 1999-2003) and founding member of the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) in Liberia, as well as the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP). Leymah’s memoir tells the story of how she survived the Liberian Civil War, and how she rallied Liberian women to peacefully protest the war and rebuild their nation. In particular, Laymah is credited for working with former child soldiers, helping to rehabilitate them into civilian life. Her peace-building efforts have also been documented in the 2008 documentary Pray the devil back to hell.

Leymah Gbowee was born in 1972 in Liberia. After graduating high school, her plans for furthering her education were paused when the civil war erupted. She and her family were eventually forced to flee as refugees to Ghana. After returning to Liberia, Leymah became politically active in WIPNET, WANEP, and the Liberian Mass Action for Peace Movement, putting pressure on Liberia’s leaders to end the civil war. Leymah received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, along with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (African’s first female head of state), and Tawakkul Karmān. Leymah has received multiple awards, committee memberships, and appointments, including serving on committees at UNSCC and at Columbia University. She is also a columnist for the Daily Beast. Leymah currently lives in Liberia with her family.

earthreading English language, Nonfiction, Prize Winners, South America

Suriname

The politics of passion: women’s sexual culture in the Afro-Surinamese diaspora by Gloria Wekker

The politics of passion was published by Gloria Wekker in 2006. This book was actually Gloria’s doctoral dissertation, so it contains extremely academic language throughout. As such, it was quite different than anything else that I have attempted to read in this pilgrimage of mine. The dissertation discusses, in depth, the mati work in Suriname. A mati is a woman who has sexual relations with both men and women. She usually remains unmarried, but has many children, often with the same man. The politics of passion was largely written during Gloria’s time living in Suriname during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2007 it won the Ruth Benedict Prize of American Anthropological Association.

Gloria Wekker was born in 1950 in Suriname. She moved to The Netherlands in 1970, and is an emerita professor of Gender and Ethnicity at Utrecht University. She has published many books on sexuality, gender, race, and politics, focusing specifically on these topics as they pertain to Afro-Caribbean cultures. Gloria currently resides in The Netherlands.

earthreading Books turned into movies, French language, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction, South America

French Guiana

Papillon by Henri Charrière; translated by June P. Wilson and Walter B. Michaels

Papillon was originally published in French by Henri Charrière in 1969. It was quickly translated into more than 16 languages, including English, and by the time of the author’s death in 1973, it had become a bestseller. Papillon is the autobiography of Henri Charrière, better known by his nickname “Papillon” (meaning “butterfly” in French, a reference to the large tattoo of a butterfly that he had on his chest). Henri was a safecracker and thief living in Paris, when he was accused of murder, arrested, and sentenced to a life of hard labor in the French penal colony Cayenne in French Guiana. Henri was imprisoned here from 1931-1944, when, after several attempts, he managed to escape. He maintained that he was innocent of the murder charge his entire life. Papillon tells the story of his imprisonment, his mistreatment at the hands of the prison guards, and his many, many escape attempts. It was turned into two movies: one in 1973, and one in 2017. Many have accused Henri’s book of being fictional, rather than factual, but Henri remained firm that his book was a true account of his adventures.

Henri Charrière was born in France in 1906 and died in Spain in 1973. He was convicted of murder in 1931. He claimed that he was innocent, and the charge was a set-up, up until the day he died. In 1944, he finally escaped, and eventually fled French Guiana (the only territory in South America to still be held by a European power) and settled in Venezuela. Interestingly enough, he escaped from the same island prison where Alfred Dreyfus was once held prisoner. In 1969 he published his autobiography, at the urging of his wife. Shortly thereafter, largely due to public reaction to his book, the French government issued Henri a pardon, allowing him to return to France. He died in 1973 in Spain.

earthreading Africa, English language, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction

Ghana

King Peggy by Peggielene Bartels and Eleanor Herman

King Peggy is the true story of Peggielene (“Peggy”) Bartels, an American secretary, who one receives a call in the middle of the night telling her “Congrats! You’re the next king!” You can’t make this stuff up, y’all.

Born in Ghana in 1953, Peggy emigrated to the United States in her early twenties. In 2008, while working as a secretary in the UN, she became the next king of Otuam, a village in Ghana. She currently splits her time between Otuam and Silver Spring, Maryland.

  • Bartels, Peggielene, and Eleanor Herman. King Peggy: an American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village. Anchor Books, 2013.
  • BBC News. “Ghana Country Profile.” BBC News, BBC, 1 May 2018, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13433790.
  • “Ghana Location on the World Map.” Ontheworldmap.com, ontheworldmap.com/ghana/ghana-location-map.html.
  • “Home.” Lady King Peggy, 20 Sept. 2016, ladykingpeggy.com/.
  • King Peggy, kingpeggy.com/index.html.

earthreading Africa, Books turned into movies, English language, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction

Malawi

The boy who harnessed the wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

The boy who harnessed the wind is the true story of William Kamkwamba. At the age of 21, William, who had not finished school, built a working windmill that successfully and safely generated electricity to his family’s home. His only tools were what he salvaged from a nearby junkyard and outdated textbooks from his school’s library.

William Kamkwamba has received international fame and recognition since building his windmill. He has done two Ted Talks, and his story has been turned into a Netflix film. After graduating college, William now works with the charity group WiderNet “to develop appropriate technology curriculum that will allow people to bridge the gap between ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’.” William was born on August 5, 1987 in Malawi, where he still spends much of his time with his family.

earthreading English language, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction, North America

Pueblo of Laguna

Pocahontas: medicine woman, spy, entrepreneur, diplomat by Paula Gunn Allen

Pocahontas: medicine woman, spy, entrepreneur, diplomat was written by Paula Gunn Allen in 2003. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2004. This is a biography about the life of Pocahontas as told from a Native American perspective. Basing much of her research and arguments in Powhatan religion and culture, this book builds a very different image of Pocahontas than what most American children are taught in school. I am including this title as a book for the Pueblo of Laguna tribe because that is the author’s heritage. Pocahontas was not Pueblo of Laguna; instead, she was a member of the Powhatan nation (located in the modern American state of Virginia).

Paula Gunn Allen was born in 1939 in New Mexico. She was one of the first to begin writing “American Indian literature” in the 1960s, at a time when many “in academia still denied [its] existence.” She considered herself to be of European, Lebanese, and Native American descent. Her mother was of Pueblo of Laguna, Métis, and Scottish heritage. Allen passed away in 2008 after a long illness.

earthreading Asia, Books turned into movies, French language, Graphic Novels, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction

Iran

The complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi; translated by L’Association and Anjali Singh

The complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was published in 2003 in French, and translated into English in 2004 by L’Association and Anjali Singh. It was originally published in French as Persepolis 1, 2, 3, and 4. This is a graphic novel that follows the life of the author through her childhood during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. It was turned into a movie in 2007, and won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year.

Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran in 1969. In 1984, fearing for their daughter’s safety following the Islamic Revolution, Satrapi’s parents sent her to school in Austria. She moved back to Iran for a brief period after school before moving permanently to Paris, where she still lives and works.

earthreading Books turned into movies, Caribbean, Memoirs and Biographies, Nonfiction, Spanish language

Cuba

The motorcycle diaries: notes on a Latin American journey by Ernesto “Che” Guevara; edited and translated by Alexandra Keeble

The motorcycle diaries: notes on a Latin American journey is the journal of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the famed Cuban revolutionary figure. The vast majority of this journal was written while Guevara traveled throughout South America on motorcycle from 1951-1952. The motorcycle diaries is the collection of Guevara’s personal thoughts and observations on South American politics, culture, and governments. It was originally published in 1992 as Notas de Viaje. It was turned into a movie in 2004.

  • 1928 – Che Guevara is born as Ernesto Guevara de la Serna in Argentina
  • 1951-1952 – Together with a friend, Alberto Granado, Guevara journeys via motorcycle throughout the continent of South America, during which time he writes the majority of The motorcycle diaries
  • 1954 – Guevara becomes extremely disillusioned with the U.S. government and their intentions in Latin America after the CIA leads a successful coup against the Guatemalan democratically-elected president. His political views become more and more Marxist.
  • 1955 – Guevara meets Fidel Castro, who convinces Guevara to help him overthrow the current Cuban government, led by Sergeant Fulgencio Batista. Batista is supported by the U.S. Together they eventually form the Rebel Army.
  • 1958 – Guevara, leading the Rebel Army, successfully defeats the Batistan army
  • 1959 – Guevara is renamed a Cuban citizen, and becomes head of the Industrial Department of the Institute of Agrarian Reform and later that year, President of the National Bank of Cuba
  • 1960-1966 – Guevara represents Cuba, and the Communist Party, on many trips to foreign governments, including the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea
  • 1967 – While assisting a guerrilla effort in Bolivia, Guevara is ambushed, captured, and then executed.
  • 1997 – Guevara’s remains are located in Bolivia, and returned to Cuba, where they are reburied with honors