Authors Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland are in London, England today to start a five-country European tour to promote the launch of the British, German, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish editions of The Bite of the Mango. Wow...!
Susan will return home after Germany and Mariatu's surrogate aunt in Toronto, Kadi, will join Mariatu for the remainder of the tour. In each of these countries, the publishers have arranged print, TV and radio interviews, school visits and public readings. It is really heart-warming to see how the world is embracing Mariatu and her remarkable story of overcoming the loss of her hands to rebel soldiers in her native Sierra Leone. The sad thing is, this is not just Mariatu's story, but the story of so many amputees in Sierra Leone who were the victims of unimaginable atrocities during the civil war in their country. We wish Mariatu, Susan, and Kadi a rewarding trip and look forward to hearing their stories and seeing their photo on their return at the end of this month.
Susan and Mariatu are grateful to have received a Travel Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to assist in this trip.
Stay tuned for images of the different covers from the foreign editions of The Bite of the Mango...
