how beautiful we were
Imbolo Mbue
A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweepeing, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers. - Penguin Random House
“Mbue reaches for the moon and, by the novel’s end, has it firmly held in her hand.” — NPR
Guest Speakers
Imbolo Mbue, author
Saidatul Maisarah Faiesall Ahmad Faiesall, Sunway University Malaysia
Aida Mengistu, Inter-Agency Standing Committee Peer-to-Peer Support
Eric Roston, Bloomberg
Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Georgetown University
Jemilah Mahmood, Sunway University Malaysia
livestream recording
Hear from special guests Imbolo Mbue, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, and Dr. Jemilah Mahmood on environmental justice, ideas for climate reparations, and the Loss and Damage framework from COP27. Moderated by Ruth Mukwana.
chat recordings
Hear from our guest speakers as they discuss their thoughts about the novel’s plot, characters, and themes as they relate to urgent policy issues.
Saidatul Maisarah Faiesall Ahmad Faiesall
Saidatul joins us to discuss the first part of How Beautiful We Were.
February 2023 | 37:19
Aida Mengistu
Aida Mengistu joins us to discuss extractive capitalism.
March 2023 | 31:11
Eric Roston
Eric Roston joins us to discuss poverty in the Global South.
March 2023 | 37:51
