Award-winning poet Safia Elhillo was born to Sudanese immigrants, and grew up in a community rich with stories of home. Old movies, music, and vivid narratives of the cultural scenes of 1970s and 80s Sudan.
Like many children of immigrants, a big part of her upbringing involved a tightly-knit community in a big U.S. city — a community that spoke their language, ate their food, and longed for the home they left.
In this interview, Safia reflects on the complexities of coming of age in a diaspora in her new book, "Home Is Not a Country." It’s a young adult novel written in verse about a girl named Nima growing up in the Washington D.C. area.
Click the play button above to listen.
