Leaving Home Behind, with Abdulrazak Gurnah

Prior to meeting Nobel Prize winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah a few weeks ago, the only thing I knew about his home country of Zanzibar was that Freddie Mercury was born there and Billy Joel wrote a song by that name, though I’m pretty sure it was about a nightclub in New York City. I was unaware of the Zanzibar Revolution and the dangerous living conditions that caused Abdulrazak to flee his home country and seek asylum in the UK. Meet Abdulrazak Gurnah: Abdulrazak Gurnah is the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his many novels are Paradise, By the Sea, and Desertion. Born and raised in Zanzibar, he is Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent. He recently joined me on Uncorking a Story me today to talk about his new novel, Afterlives.  Key Topics: His decision to leave Zanzibar in the 1960s to seek asylum in the UK. How he was treated living as a refugee in the UK. Why, after studying engineering, Abdulrazak decided to start writing. How he weaves his life’s experiences into the story lines of his novels. Important words of advice he would share with aspiring authors looking to write their first book. “What I write about is what I see. And if what I see is unjust, then I will write about it.” — Abdulrazak Gurnah. Buy After Lives Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KjQRy6 Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9780593541883 Connect with Abdulrazak Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/44089.Abdulrazak_Gurnah Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/addulrazak_gurnah/ Connect with Mike Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSvS4fuG3L1JMZeOyHvfk_g Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkingastory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/uncorkingastory Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uncorkingastory LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncorking-a-story/ If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. If you have not done so already, please rate and review Uncorking a Story on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get yours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices