Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout learns about the Somalis in writing her latest best-selling novel, The Burgess Boys

[Admin]

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout read from her latest best-selling novel, The Burgess Boys, at a recent Bowdoin event sponsored by the Blythe Bickel Edwards Fund and the English Department.

 

Known for incorporating the unique flavor of her home state into her fiction, the Maine-born Strout is the author of numerous short stories and two other novels. In her newest work, Strout revisits the fictional Maine town of Shirley Falls, first introduced in a previous book.

 

When Shirley Falls resident Susan Burgess finds out that that her son has been accused of a hate crime against the Somali population, she informs her brothers Jim and Bob, both New York City attorneys, who return to their small Maine hometown to help handle the crisis. The Burgess reunion on familiar soil rekindles long-buried familial tensions and reminders of the siblings’ traumatic childhood, testing their ability to cooperate amidst a new type of challenge.

 

It took Strout seven years to write The Burgess Boys, largely due to her extensive research on the country of Somalia, its culture, and its civil war. “I found out all I could about Somali history,” Strout said. “I write about things that become absolutely compelling to me.” As part of Strout’s research she spoke with many Somalis in her college town of Lewiston, Maine. Today Maine is home to more than 6,000 Somali secondary immigrants.

 

Strout noted that she started writing as a child, captivated by the idea of that stories provided a way to inhabit a different point of view. “I understood at a very young age that I would never know what it would be like to be another person,” she said. “I figured out that books brought me the closest.”

http://www.somaliaonline.com/pulitzer-prize-winning-author-elizabeth-strout-learns-about-the-somalis-in-writing-her-latest-best-selling-novel-the-burgess-boys/

[Alpha Blondy]

i heard the Somalis/Somali Bantus in Maine, particularly in the city of ''Lewiston'', were so uncivilised.......my reer Las Anod friend from America was saying they'd often wash their clothes in public, carry large traditional African-style baskets containing food on their heads, carry their children on their backs, perform FGM etc......

 

 

WTF?

[Hawdian]

^ your friend told you a lie, get som new friends. Those people are hardworking immigrants in a land founded by immigrants, U.S.A.

[Che -Guevara]

Your friend is an !diot.

 

 

 

http://hiiraan.com/news4/2014/Apr/54359/this_somali_teen_fashion_designer_goes_big_with_animal_print_hijabs.aspx

[Alpha Blondy]

<cite>

@Che -Guevara

said:</cite>

Your friend is an !diot.

 

for the long term viability of our cordial relations, please refrain from insulting asxaabteyda.

[Mooge]

the red one in the middle looks hot.

[Che -Guevara]

Teach your asxaabtaa some manners, prejudice should not be tolerated.

[Mahiigaan]

I am not familiar with Southern Bantus but I have seen a documentary of Southern Sudanese. The guys have never travelled in a plane or a car and have never seen a traffic light before. They were given an appartment so everything must be taught to them, even how to start the fan. The most funny thing was when one of the guys got a job in a factory after a while. He was told how much money he will earn pr month. On pay day, he was handed with an envelope. He said "what is this?", and he was told it is his money. After openning the envelope, he pulled out a check and nothing else was in the envelope. He asked his supervisor why he was lied to when he started the job. To make it short, the supervisor had to explain that he can go to the bank and cash it. He was so upset, beliving the supervisor is still cheating him.

At last, the manager told the supervisor told the supervisor to follow him to the bank and cash the check for him.

Don't think that all new arrivals from Africa are familiar with urban life, some are right from the bush.

[Holac]

^^ That is the same story I used to hear about the Faradheers not the other way around.

[Alpha Blondy]

<cite>

@Mahiigaan

said:</cite>

I am not familiar with Southern Bantus but I have seen a documentary of Southern Sudanese. The guys have never travelled in a plane or a car and have never seen a traffic light before. They were given an appartment so everything must be taught to them, even how to start the fan. The most funny thing was when one of the guys got a job in a factory after a while. He was told how much money he will earn pr month. On pay day, he was handed with an envelope. He said "what is this?", and he was told it is his money. After openning the envelope, he pulled out a check and nothing else was in the envelope. He asked his supervisor why he was lied to when he started the job. To make it short, the supervisor had to explain that he can go to the bank and cash it. He was so upset, beliving the supervisor is still cheating him.

At last, the manager told the supervisor told the supervisor to follow him to the bank and cash the check for him.

Don't think that all new arrivals from Africa are familiar with urban life, some are right from the bush.

 

are you talking about the Lost Boys of Sudan?. that's one of my favourite documentaries of all time. my favourite scene was when they were being instructed to use the fridge. the look of shock on their faces was priceless. it was so funny.

 

as a former refugee myself, i recall the difficulties 'we' endured when we came to London. of course, it was difficult for my certain members of my family to adapt quickly, but i was fortunate enough, to benefit from their pioneering methods to open a can of tuna many years later. crazy times, ruunti. i always like listening to these stories being retold.

 

 

[Alpha Blondy]

<cite>

@Che -Guevara

said:</cite>

Teach your asxaabtaa some manners, prejudice should not be tolerated.

 

i apologies on behalf of my friends. prejudice is bad.

[galbeedi]

I can assure you their manners are better and are not bs load as most Faradheer.

[Che -Guevara]

Dear Alpha. Don't apologize on their behalf, just correct their behavior when this sort of conversation is taking place.