Rebecca Walker, Author of ‘Adé: A Love Story,’ to Speak Nov. 21

Cal Poly will host author Rebecca Walker at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 21 in the Baker Center (Building 180), Room 114. She will read from her latest novel “Adé: A Love Story” and her memoir “Black, White and Jewish” in a presentation titled “Writing Beyond Boundaries.”

The best-selling author will discuss a variety of issues including race and gender, politics and power, and fiction and memoir. After the presentation, Walker will engage in conversation with the audience. The event is free and open to the public.

“Adé: A Love Story,” follows the journey of a free-spirited American woman and a Swahili Muslim man who fall in love on the island of Lamu, off the coast of Kenya. On the isolated island, the couple creates their own paradise by living in a small white house and creating their own language of intimacy.

After Adé asks for Farida’s hand in marriage, the two are forced to leave the island to prepare for their wedding. Walker relates a story about survival and how the relationship changes after Farida becomes seriously ill. Incorporating historical elements, the novel contrasts the couple’s private paradise with a world in the midst of the Persian Gulf War.

Walker is the author of the memoirs “Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self” and “Baby Love.” She has been featured in print publications such as Glamour, The Washington Post and Newsweek, and television programs “Good Morning America” and “Oprah.” Walker also co-starred in Mike Nichols’ film “Primary Colors” alongside Emma Thompson and John Travolta and was named one of the most influential leaders of her generation by Time Magazine.

The event is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts’ Lottery Speakers Fund; Office of University Diversity and Inclusivity; Women’s and Gender Studies, English, Ethnic Studies and History Departments; Writers Collective; and the Robert E. Kennedy Library.