International author, editor Ellah Wakatama Allfrey to present ‘A Daily Assortment of Astonishing Things’
S.A. Yoder Lecture: “A Daily Assortment of Astonishing Things” with Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, visiting scholar
Date and time: Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Goshen College Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall
Cost: Free and open to the public
Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, a 1988 Goshen College graduate, and internationally-known author, broadcaster, editor and literary critic, will present Goshen College’s annual S.A. Yoder Lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The event, titled “A Daily Assortment of Astonishing Things,” will take place in the Music Center’s Rieth Recital Hall and is free and open to the public.
Wakatama Allfrey, who grew up in Zimbabwe and now lives in England, has become renowned especially for her work in Anglophone African literature. In recognition of her significant contributions to the publishing industry, she was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Prince Charles in 2011, which is one of the highest cultural honors in England.
Wakatama Allfrey is former deputy editor of Granta magazine and editor-at-large for Granta and Portobello Books. She has previously served as an editor for Jonathan Cape/Random House and Penguin Press. She currently sits on the selection panel for the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Fellowship and as a judge for the 2016 Dublin International Literary Award. Allfrey has served as a judge for prestigious literary awards such as the Man Booker Prize, the David Cohen Prize, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and the Caine Prize for African Writing.
Her work in journalism has appeared in publications including the Independent, the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Observer, and she has contributed to NPR’s book pages and “All Things Considered.”
In 2014, Wakatama Allfrey edited the anthology “Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara,” a project which selected 39 Sub-Saharan African writers under the age of 40 who were deemed the most promising in the development of new literature. This May, Wakatama Allfrey edited another collection of creative nonfiction by African writers called “Safe House: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction.”
This fall, Wakatama Allfrey returned to her alma mater to teach two guest courses – one on contemporary African literature and another on editing and publishing – through a pilot program called the Global Intercultural Scholar Program. During Homecoming Weekend, she was awarded the Goshen College Culture for Service Award.
The S.A. Yoder Lecture Series, begun in 1972, honors Dr. Samuel A. Yoder, a professor at Goshen College from 1930 to 1935 and again from 1946 until his death in 1970. The lecture is sponsored by the Goshen College English Department and the Center for Intercultural and International Education.