Review| The Seine was Red: Paris, October 1961

On October 17 1961 , thousands of peaceful Algerians in Paris marched against the curfew imposed on them by the French government. These protesters were met with the brutal force of the French police. The Seine was Red is set thirty-five years after a massacre of Algerians protesters in Paris. Sebbar presents different vantage points of the demonstration through several elders of Algerian-French families. The documentary style of writing reveals the difficult and raw process of remembering and honoring slain Algerians.

Happy International Women’s Day

Happy International Women’s Day! Today and every other day is a good opportunity to celebrate, cite, read and review books from women writers! Our stories are as diverse as we come. With each pen stroke and keyboard press, women writers are challenging gender stereotypes, biases & inequalities. Through their creative processes, they choose to challenge patriarchy! This is a dedication to them!

Review| Memoirs from the Women’s Prison

Memoirs from the Women’s Prison is a deeply compelling account of Nawal El Saadawi’s imprisonment in the Barrages Women’s Prison in Cairo, Egypt. Regarded as a long-term outspoken critic of the Sadat regime in Egypt, she is locked up for committing “crimes against the state”. As with the other political prisoners, she was sent to prison without trial. Saadawi unashamedly writes in her vulnerability and resilience as we relive her harrowing encounter in confinement. The powerful narrative evokes anger and sorrow as Nawal El Saadawi describes the various challenges and triumphs held by all prisoners.

Review | La Bastarda

La Bastarda is simple yet powerfully subversive tale about Okomo’s search for her father and herself. Okomo is an orphaned teenager living with her maternal grandparents in Aya Esang, Equatorial Guinea. Her grandparents repeatedly call her estranged father a “scoundrel” and bemoan her poor marriage prospects. Trifonia Melibea Obono seamless weaves together the themes of family , desirability and femininity, and tradition to lay bare the discrimination against lesbians , women’s agency and belonging in Equatoguinean society.

Review | Beneath the Lion’s Gaze

Beneath the Lion’s Gaze is a captivating yet melancholic historical novel set in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Beginning on the eve of the 1974 Ethiopian revolution, the novel unpacks the perspectives, resistance and tragedies that shaped the Ethiopian revolution and military dictatorship of the Derg regime. Through Hailu’s family, their neighbours and the last Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie ; we are given intimate and emotionally charged alternative points of views on the political and socio-economic turmoil of this period.

How to celebrate you

Documenting little details of your everyday life becomes a celebration of who you are.

Carolyn V. Hamilton

In my previous post celebrating you, I shared the etymology of celebrate. I still believe that the best definition of celebrae is ” practice often”. But what do we need to practice often? In this blog post, I share tips on how to cherish every moment and accomplishment! Let’s celebrate ourselves!

Celebrating you

“Celebrate your life, you are your own light.”

Lailah Gifty Akita

The word celebrate comes from the word Latin celebrae, which means “assemble to honor”. Celebrae also means to “publish; sign praises of and practice often”.“Assemble to honor” and “Practice often” stick out to me. In our extremely competitive and busy world, we often rush to our near goal, forgetting to pause and honour ourselves. In this blog post, I share why assembling to honor yourself is crucial to ones joy and defiance of society’s narrow definition of success and celebration. You’ll also catch a glimpse of my latest travel in and around Harare.

Rerouted: My Odyssey from Tokyo to Harare

In my previous post, Stranded, I detailed my experience of being stuck in Tokyo and feeling uneasy about my flight route. I was fortunate enough to get some extra money from family to supplement my extra days and crash with my friends. I mustered the courage to find an alternative route to Zimbabwe and explore two East African airports. In Rerouted, you read how I navigate my 4 day journey!

Writing Break: My Odyssey from Tokyo to Harare

Hello friends and readers!

Today is Thursday, my blog post day. I was keen to share the last segment of my Odyssey Series titled “ Rerouted”. Unfortunately, I’ve been feeling extremely sluggish this week. It’s difficult to find the energy to write or remember anything from that eventful last week.

In keeping a promise to be gentle to myself, I’m taking a couple of days off blogging. But don’t despair, I should be back next Thursday with Rerouted!

Much love,

Reforming Salala

Stranded: My Odyssey from Tokyo to Harare

In my previous post, Cancelled; I shared the stressful situation of learning my flight to Harare via Doha & Addis Ababa was no more . With no active mobile number, just under a 100 USD in my pocket and bumming off Airport WiFi ; I was stranded in Tokyo.