# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event 
- **Event Start and End Date**: Sat, 15 Nov, 2025 at 07:00 pm – Sat, 15 Nov, 2025 at 09:00 pm
- **Event Description**: Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at a Free Writers Guild event and present "The Power of Storytelling"
Saturday, November 15, 2025
7pm
Monroe County Public Library Auditorium 
Reception/book sales/book signing next door at the Monroe County History Center after the talk


Thanks to our sponsors!

MCPL
History of Black Writing 
Hoosiers Hills Credit Union
IU Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies
IU Department of American Studies
IU College of Arts and Humanities 
IU Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society
Psi Iota Xi Thrift Store

Aminatta Forna is an award winning writer. Through fiction and non-fiction she has examined the effects of war and trauma. Formerly a journalist for BBC TV, her first book, The Devil that Danced on the Water, was an investigation into the murder of her father, a political activist and Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience, in Sierra Leone in the 1970's. There followed three novels, including the multi award winning and bestselling The Memory of Love. A firm believer in the resilience of the human spirit, Aminatta's last novel is titled, Happiness.

Born in Scotland to a Scottish mother and West African father, Aminatta's childhood was spent moving between worlds and even included spells in Iran and Thailand.  She first came to the United States as a Harkness Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley in 1996. Aminatta is widely traveled and her boundary-crossing life provides the context for her understanding of history, culture and politics. Her adventures are the subject of her most recent book, an essay collection, The Window Seat. 

Exclusively represented by BrightSight Speakers, Aminatta is Director the Lannan Center at Georgetown University, holds a professorship at Bath Spa University in the UK and previously held the post of Sterling Brown Visiting Professor at Williams College, Massachusetts.

The recipient of a Windham Campbell Award from Yale University, Aminatta has won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book Award, the Hurston Wright Legacy Award, the Liberaturpreis in Germany and the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize and been a finalist for the Neustadt Prize for Literature (widely regarded as the most prestigious international literary award after the Nobel).

Aminatta has been a keynote speaker at the universities of Columbia, New York, Yale, Georgetown, Kennesaw and Vassar and Macalester colleges, as well at literary festival in Stockholm, Vienna, Johannesburg and  The Hague.

Aminatta has written and presented television documentaries including “The Lost Libraries of Timbuktu” (BBC Television, 2009) and “Girl Rising” (CNN, 2013). She is a frequent contributor to BBC radio arts and current affairs programs.

Her essays have appeared in Freeman’s, Granta, The Guardian, LitHub, The Nation, The New York Review of Books and Vogue.

Aminatta Forna is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was made OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours 2017.



Aminatta is represented exclusively by the BrightSight Group
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/bloomington/acclaimed-author-aminatta-forna-to-speak-at-writers-guild-event/200028516611901
- **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, sports, festivals, trips-adventures, storytelling
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 49

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Bloomington
- **state**: IN
- **country**: United States
- **location**: Monroe County Public Library
- **lat**: 39.166885683778
- **long**: -86.530257643049
- **full address**: Monroe County Public Library, 315 E Kirkwood Ave, Bloomington, IN 47408-3534, United States

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/52be59cbcbf27a7cd9f5484137b7c8da2a964599626d4cea230f9e828a603af9-rimg-w1154-h653-dc992801-gmir?v=1762891918

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event  being held?
  - **A:** Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event  takes place on Sat, 15 Nov, 2025 at 07:00 pm to Sat, 15 Nov, 2025 at 09:00 pm at Monroe County Public Library, 315 E Kirkwood Ave, Bloomington, IN 47408-3534, United States.
- **Q**: Who is organizing Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event ?
  - **A:** Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event  is organized by Writers Guild at Bloomington.
- **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me?
  - **A:** Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event  is ideal for art lovers, collectors, creatives, and anyone inspired by visual arts, installations, and exhibitions. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Bloomington, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event  sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast.

## Structured Data (JSON-LD)

```json
[
    {
        "@context": "https://schema.org",
        "@type": "Event",
        "name": "Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at Writers Guild event",
        "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/52be59cbcbf27a7cd9f5484137b7c8da2a964599626d4cea230f9e828a603af9-rimg-w1154-h653-dc992801-gmir?v=1762891918",
        "startDate": "2025-11-15",
        "endDate": "2025-11-15",
        "url": "https://allevents.in/bloomington/acclaimed-author-aminatta-forna-to-speak-at-writers-guild-event/200028516611901",
        "location": {
            "@type": "Place",
            "name": "Monroe County Public Library",
            "address": {
                "@type": "PostalAddress",
                "streetAddress": "315 E Kirkwood Ave, Bloomington, IN 47408-3534, United States",
                "addressLocality": "Bloomington",
                "addressRegion": "IN",
                "addressCountry": "US"
            },
            "geo": {
                "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
                "latitude": "39.166885683778",
                "longitude": "-86.530257643049"
            }
        },
        "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode",
        "description": "Acclaimed Author Aminatta Forna to speak at a Free Writers Guild event and present \"The Power of Storytelling\"\nSaturday, November 15, 2025\n7pm\nMonroe County Public Library Auditorium \nReception/book sales/book signing next door at the Monroe County History Center after the talk\n\n\nThanks to our spons",
        "organizer": [
            {
                "@type": "Organization",
                "name": "Writers Guild at Bloomington",
                "url": "https://allevents.in/org/writers-guild-at-bloomington/26003597",
                "description": "Writers Guild at Bloomington, Bloomington. 1,086 likes · 11 talking about this. The Writers Guild at Bloomington is an association of writers committed..."
            }
        ]
    }
]
```