UA News

The 36th Annual African Literature Association Conference will include lectures, presentations and film screenings.

The University of Arizona Department of French and Italian is hosting the 36th Annual African Literature Association Conference this month. 

The conference, to be held March 10 to March 14, will be held at the Doubletree Hotel, 445 S. Alvernon Way. 

Irène d'Almeida, who heads the UA's French and Italian department, will convene the conference, "Eco-Imagination: African and Diasporan Literatures and Sustainability."

Tanella Boni, a novelist and poet from Côte d'Ivoire, will provide the keynote address on March 11 at 3:45 p.m. 

The conference will include film screenings, performances, lectures, a poetry reading, a teacher's workshop, a book exhibition and a range of concurrent sessions. The opening recpetion will be held March 10 at 5 p.m. in Room S202 of the  Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Building, 1130 N. Mountain Ave., on the UA campus. 

More than 200 people from all over the world are expected to attend the conference. Among those who will speak are Jean -Gilles Quenum, a multi-talented, Afro-European artist from France. Additionally, filmmakers Jean-Marie Teno from Cameroon and Joseph Gai Ramaka from Senegal will both speak about their latest films and documentaries.

The conference will focus on ways the environment and environmental issues are addressed in works written by African peoples while also addressing ways that various populations have settled. 

Panelists will present on a variety of topics, including literature, land and landscape, African languages, women's literature, cinema, globalization, children's right, immigration and other issues.

Daily registration fee for Arizona residents is $ 25.00. Additional registration and fee info is available on the UA College of Humanities Web site.