Critically-Acclaimed Caribbean Author to Speak at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Critically-acclaimed Caribbean author, Maryse Condé, will give a talk on her life and writing on Friday, Jan. 23 at 3:30 p.m. in the Seelos Theatre at the College of the Holy Cross. The event, sponsored by Montserrat—a new living-learning program that immediately immerses first-year students in an intensive academic experience, complemented by residential and co-curricular activities—is free and open to the public.

Condé will be talking about her experiences, as a Caribbean woman and writer, with issues of exile and displacement. She is the author of more than a dozen novels, most of which deal with racial, gender, and cultural themes—specifically migration and violence. She is best known for her novel Segu (1984-1985), a historical saga that took place in Africa involving the uprise of Islam and slave trade; the book shortly became a best-seller in France. Condé retired from Columbia University in 2004, where she was an emeritus professor of French.

The event is also sponsored by Africana Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies.