An Evening with Connie Shoemaker
Join us for an evening with Colorado Author, Connie Shoemaker.
Date and time
Location
Online
About this event
From the author:
"Taste the Sweetness Later brings together two of my passions: the power of telling life stories and the commitment to building bridges between cultures and generations.
My interest in Muslim women began during my family's four years in Cairo, Egypt, where I taught English as a foreign language at America University in Cairo and wrote for the Associated Press. More than half my life has been focused on education of international students and immigrants. Before retiring, I co-founded and directed Spring International Language Center, an intensive ESL program, and I now serve on the board of Immigrant Pathways Colorado.
About the book:
Informed by more than 200 hours of personal interviews, Shoemaker shares stories of two women living in the grip of dangerous dictators. Nisren, a Kurdish Iraqi whose childhood is plagued by Saddam Hussein's "eyes that are watching" marries an interpreter for the US Army. She escapes to America with her family after anti-US factions threaten to kill her husband. Eman, a Libyan growing up in the shadow of Muammar Gaddafi, persists in her dream of higher education by fighting for a scholarship that will take her from her sheepherding family of twenty-two siblings to graduate study in the United States.
Nisren and Eman speak to readers in an intimate conversation encompassing values that many people share: relationships with their partners, education to better their own and their children's lives, and the freedom to make individual choices. Sharing their stories is a step toward bridging the social and political chasm that divides America today. Just as ignorance of "the other" condemns us to the bondage of fear, knowledge frees us and makes us more able to build connections. Nisren and Eman display the courage, determination, and unwavering hope that are essential to the true spirit of America. Their stories serve as an inspiration for anyone who faces difficult and seemingly insurmountable hardships. The wisdom of Eman's sheepherding grandother sums it up: "Swallow it now, and you will taste the sweetness later." -Amazon.com