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Books by Kola Boof
Nile
River Woman (Poems, Feb. 10, 2004) /
Long Train to the Redeeming
Sin-Stories About African Women
(April 6, 2004)
Flesh and the Devil: A Novel
(May 11, 2004) /
Diary of a Lost Girl
(2007)
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Bio-Sketch
Sudanese
born novelist, poet and freedom fighter, Kola Boof lives under
government protection in the United States because of death
threats made against her life by the government of Sudan and
other Arab Muslim fundamentalist groups.
"I am an American citizen. I came to America in 1980 when
my Black American parents adopted me and brought me from London
to Washington, D.C. I was born on the Nile River in Omdurman,
Sudan...I believe in March of 1969. I have prepared a Chronology
of my life that reveals for the very first time ever...my real
birth name, my father's real name and other facts about my
life."
However, in the interest of protecting my relatives who still
live in Sudan (several of Kola Boof's uncles in Kom Ombo, Egypt
were beaten and jailed simply for being related to her)...and in
protecting my new Black American relatives in Washington, D.C....there
is much that I cannot reveal at this time. Truly, I don't want
to mention what High School attended . . . when perhaps my
Sister and her children live only 3 blocks from that school.
Just imagine how easy it would be for Jihad to hurt or kill my
loved ones...in lieu of catching me and my own children. The
police authorities have instructed me not to give vital
information about my life and my past to members of the
press--or people who might only be "claiming" to be
press...they warned me against giving my passport to the
media...because one such mistake could result in my murder and
the murder of my children."
"I am a Black women's writer, I have been a published
author now for five years. My books have been sold in 8
countries and originated in Arabic. My biggest fan base in
London. My admirers are usually Black women, Black Academics and
homosexuals. My books first began appearing here in America in
Nov. 2001, which is the same time that I became an internet
presence..." more bio
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Table
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Review of
Long Train to the Redeeming
Sin-Stories About African Women
Kola
Boof,
a respected literary writer, is a rising "womanist" sage. She has become
very popular with Black American women readers, particularly Afrocentric
women. To her surprise, Boof has become extraordinarily popular with
Black male readers. "That was the biggest shock…that so many Black men
embraced me, wrote to me, acknowledged and supported my work. That
really stunned me."
She began her career
in 1997 with her stunning poetry collection, Every Little Bit Hurts.
Boof courted feminist readers, and has taken up the civil rights
campaign of African lesbians and saying out loud, "I'm not a
lesbian or bisexual…but if I could've been I would've been. I would
love to be free from my obsession with men. I would have chosen being a
lesbian if I could have chosen it."
"In the tradition
of Alice Walker, Ntzoke Shange, Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison…Kola
Boof's debut short story collection,
Long Train to the Redeeming
Sin-Stories About African Women…is turning out to be more than
just a notable fiction book with good reviews. It's becoming a social
echo. A stone thrown at the windows of Black women around the
world…that wakes them up! Here-let the critics tell you about it:
"This is dangerous writing in its rawest form…a treasured
discovery." —Jaqueline Jones LaMon, author of In the Arms of
One Who Loves
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"TOPLESS" in America!
Ms. Boof states that her decision to be topless on the back of her books
has been the most painful source of criticism in her life, both
professionally and personally...IN HER OWN WORDS: "I am topless to honor
my mother and my grandmother. I am topless to pay homage to all the
centuries upon centuries of AUTHENTIC African women who revered the bare
breast just as Christians revere the crucifix. It's no different than
that, to me. I am proud to be from those BLACK, topless spirit women who
created and sustained the natural world. But then there's another
reason.
"I prefer my own African image to a Eurocentric one, so being
topless is also a rebuke against the tragic image of Michael Jackson's
white flesh—and it's my rejection of the image of Lil' Kim's blond,
blue-eyed insult. It hurts me that Black American women have not
supported me in my decision—I feel BETRAYED that they haven't. But,
of course, they are Americans and I notice that most of the opinions that
they have are the ones that Europeans gave them. So I try to be
understanding."
www.kolaboof.com/
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updated 30 September 2007
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