John Kenyon, the Director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, said he condones the selection of Markham’s novel. “We also, leading up to that event, organize a series of community discussion forums along with community partners to have people read the book and discuss it and share what questions they have with the author,” she said.

Weismann spoke about how the event has community discussions in anticipation of the author’s visit. “It’s to promote education about human rights through literature.” “It’s a community reading program that the UI for Human Rights programs each year,” Weismann said. In regards to the UI’s One Community, One Book, Weismann stated that the program intends to say to its targeted demographic. foreign policy, and the global economy, and to allow more people to connect intimately, on the page, to our newest U.S. “I wrote this book, in part, to center the stories of young immigrants coming to this country from Central America, to situate these young people’s story within the context of history, U.S.

Markham said she wrote The Far Away Brothers with the intention to create protagonists that young immigrants could identify with. “I get to hear about what they loved about home, why they left, what they find here in the U.S., and what their struggles and dreams and daily victories, small and large, look like.” “I have the benefit of listening to and learning from young immigrants,” said Markham. Related: Author T Kira Madden shares her memoir at Prairie LightsĪlong with being a writer, Markham is an administrator for an immigrant youth school in Oakland, California, which she helped start 12 years ago.

Lauren markham the far away brothers