An epic for an era of migrants, border-crossings, and traumatic conflicts, Beyond Babylon takes us deep into the lives of people swept up in history. Telling the engrossing stories of two half-sisters who meet coincidentally in Tunisia, their mothers, and the elusive father who ties them all together, Igiaba Scego’s virtuosic novel spreads thickly over Argentina’s horrific dirty war, the chaotic final years of Siad Barre’s brutal dictatorship in Somalia—which ended in catastrophic civil war—and the modern-day excesses of Italy’s right-wing politics. Offering a visionary new perspective on political upheaval and identity in the 21st century, Beyond Babylon’s kaleidoscopic plot investigates the ways in which we make ourselves. Its myriad characters, locations, and languages redefine our sense of citizenship for a fast-changing world of migrants and demagogues, all anchored by five poignant individuals fighting to overcome memories of past violations. A masterwork equally as adept with the lives of nations as those of human beings, Beyond Babylon brings much-needed insight, compassion, and understanding to our turbulent world.
Author
Igiaba Scego is an Italian writer, journalist, and activist of Somali origin. She graduated with her BA in Foreign Literature at the First University of Rome (La Sapienza) as well as in pedagogy at the Third University of Rome. Presently, she is writing and researching cultural dialogue and migration. She writes for various magazines that deal with migrant literature, in particular Carta, El-Ghibli and Migra. Her work, not devoid of autobiographical references, are characterized by the delicate balance between her two cultural realities, the Italian and Somalian. In 2003, she won the Eks & Tra prize for migrant writers with her story "Salsicce", and published her debut novel, La nomade che amava Alfred Hitchcock. In 2006 she attended the Literature festival in Mantua. Scego collaborates with newspapers such as La Repubblica and Il manifesto and also writes for the magazine Nigrizia with a column of news and reflection, "The colors of Eve". In 2007 along with Ingy Mubiayi, she edited the short story collection 'Quando nasci è una roulette. Giovani figli di migranti si raccontano.' It follows the story of seven boys and girls of African origin, who were born in Rome of foreign parents or came to Italy when young: the story of their schooling, their relationship with family and with peers, religion, racism in Italy, and their dreams.
