City Tech’s Annual Literary Arts Festival features acclaimed novelist
Brooklyn BookBeat
New York City College of Technology (City Tech’s) 34th Annual Literary Arts Festival will take place on March 26, at the college’s Voorhees Theater, 186 Jay St., at 5:30 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature acclaimed writer Dinaw Mengestu as well as student readings and musical performances.
Dinaw Mengestu is an Ethiopian-American writer whose works include “The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears” (2007), “Children of the Revolution” (2008) and “How to Read the Air” (2010).
In his latest novel, “All Our Names” (2014), Mengestu tells the captivating story of two star-crossed lovers during an African revolution in the 1970s.
Through his writing, Mengestu reminds us that because our names are interchangeable, it’s the relationships we foster that define us. The African Diaspora led to the demise of many citizens; the few who were lucky had to refashion new lives. Throughout his novels, there is a profound sense of nostalgia for home, identity, longing and love.