Irene Sabatini

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NEWS

09 June 2010 - The Boy Next Door Wins the Orange Award for New Writers

"Immediately engaging, vivid and buzzing with energy, The Boy Next Door is the work of a true storyteller...

...Irene Sabatini has written an important book that will enchant readers and which marks the emergence of a serious new talent.”

Di Spiers, Editor of Readings at BBC Radio 4 and Chair of Judges

"This year's Orange Award for New Writers goes to a book whose words fly off the page, as they were reputedly flying off the pen as it was written. It is a joy of a novel from a born-storyteller who's a great new talent."

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Recent Events

Monday, 10th October 2011 through to Saturday 15th October 2011

ARVON FOUNDATION
The power of fantastic characters

The best characters are those who have a life beyond the pages of a book – as if they are really real. They are powerful, believable, multifaceted, flawed and they make things happen. This course will look at how to create characters who come to life, through exercises and looking at examples of memorable fictional people. Suitable for all levels.

Tutors

Bernardine Evaristo
Bernardine Evaristo’s six books include poetry; verse novels including Lara and The Emperor’s Babe; a novel Blonde Roots; and a novella Hello Mum. She has received several awards including an MBE in 2009.

Irene Sabatini
Irene Sabatini's The Boy Nest Door won the Orange Award for New Writers in 2010. She grew up in Zimbabwe and has live in South America and the Caribbean. She is currently working on another novel.

Guest

Jane Borodale
Jane Borodale's novel The Book of Fires was shortlisted for the 2010 Orange Award for New Writers.

Tuesday March 1 2011, 6.30pm

Larkin Centre Visiting Writers Series
International Women’s Day Event
The Art Gallery, Middleton Hall, University of Hull

Irene Sabatini – Winner of the Orange Award for New Writers

The Zimbabwean writer Irene Sabatini won the Orange Award for New Writers 2010 for The Boy Next Door, "one of the most engaging novels about inter-racial love to be published this century. Entertaining, ambitious and packed with news from elsewhere, leavened by the precious optimism of youth. Don't miss it" – The Independent.

Irene flies in from Geneva for a special writer’s event to mark the global centenary of International Women’s Day.

25 September 2010 - Göteborg Book Fair

10.00–10.45 -- On the road from Africa

More and more African voices are emerging into the throng of world literature. Some are new writers, while others are unknown to Swedish readers. Who are they? What do they write about? What do they look like?
Come and experience a cavalcade of impressions, with 45 minutes of presentations and readings. The seminar is the ideal shortcut for those who have a growing desire to meet more writers, to gain a deeper knowledge and to pose the question: Why do people talk about African writers? Why aren’t they just called writers? Participants include Kopano Matlwa from South Africa , Ondjaki from Angola , Petina Gappah from Zimbabwe , Tolu Ogunlesi from Nigeria , Irene Sabatini from Zimbabwe , and Biyi Bandele from Nigeria .

Moderator: Gunilla Kindstrand, cultural journalist.-- Language: English

15.00–15.45 -- Maaza Mengiste, Irene Sabatini -- Eyes turned homeward

Ethiopian Maaza Mengiste and Irene Sabatini from Zimbabwe are two writers who have left their homelands, but only physically. In their books they have returned. Irene Sabatini lives in Geneva and debuted with The Boy Next Door, a love story which takes place in Zimbabwe from the challenging times of early independence in 1980 until the present day. Maaza Mengiste and Irene Sabatini talk about their books, both published in Swedish translation this year, and about what it feels like to return to your native country in your writing.

Moderator: Görrel Espelund, journalist. -- Language: English

26 September 2010 - Göteborg Book Fair

Pojken på andra sidan - The boy on the other side

Zimbabwe skildras i en uppmärksammad debutroman. Zimbabwe is portrayed in an acclaimed debut novel. En kärlekshistoria mellan två unga som växt upp på varsin sida om staketet. A love story between two young people who grew up on opposite sides of the fence.

Room: H06:01 - Organizer: Norstedts
Program type: Monterprogram - Stand Program

Möt Irene Sabatini! Meet Irene Sabatini!

Irene Sabatini berättar om sin roman Pojken på andra sidan, som utspelas i Zimbabwe från åren vid självständigheten fram till idag. Irene Sabatini talks about her novel The Boy on the Other Side, events in Zimbabwe from the years of independence until today.

Room: B05:22 - Organizer: Norstedts
Programme type: Monterprogram - Stand Program

Irene Sabatini

Romanen Pojken på andra sidan utspelas i Zimbabwe från de oroliga åren vid självständigheten fram till i dag. The novel The Boy on the Other Side played out in Zimbabwe from the troubled years at independence to date. Om makt, kärlek och fördomar. Power, love and prejudice.

Room: Stora Scenen, International Square, Hall H - Organizer: Norstedts
Programme type: Scenprogram Program type: Scene Program

September 2010 - Launch of the Norwegian translation of THE BOY NEXT DOOR: A NOVEL

28 August 2010 - Edinburgh International Book Festival -- 7:30pm - 8:30pm

Stories of Trauma and Hope in Nigeria and Zimbabwe

Two countries at opposite ends of Africa , once brimming with promise, now find themselves struggling with corruption and hypocrisy. Kachi A Ozumba’s The Shadow of a Smile is based on real-life courage against a backdrop of Nigerian bureaucracy, while Irene Sabatini’s The Boy Next Door looks at Zimbabwe and its journey from the joy of independence to the chaos today. Both stories share a sense of hope and optimism against the odds.