Throughout the book, in fact, the First Liberian Civil War, which lasted from 1989 to 1997, is only ever spoken of in these terms. Told by her father that the gunfire is the sound of drums, Moore begins to comprehend the conflict – and accordingly relays it to us – as a story of dragons and princes, figures from the legends she grew up with. This opening section is incredibly immersive, narrated from a child’s point of view yet dropping hints that allow the reader to understand more fully what is going on. As the family rushes from their house and into the relative safety of the forest, they leave a video playing in the machine: one of Moore’s last memories of her home is Julie Andrews singing in The Sound of Music, a film her mother had sent just a few days earlier. Moore and her sisters are protected by their father, Gus, and their maternal grandmother, Ol’ Ma, but their mother is mysteriously absent – Moore knows only that she is far away in America. When conflict suddenly crashes over Liberia they are forced to flee, dropping everything and making a dangerous journey on foot to her mother’s childhood village. Later, Zora Neale Hurston’s “ Their Eyes Were Watching God” had a similar affect on me.Divided into four sections, ‘Rainy Seasons’ and ‘Dry Seasons’, The Dragons, The Giant, The Women opens when Moore is five years old and living with her family in their home on the outskirts of Monrovia. I realized that before then I hadn’t really read. Reading it was a very cerebral experience. I remember closing the book thinking I want to write fiction.

MOORE: I read Richard Wright’s “ Black Boy” when I was studying theater at New York University. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “ Americanah,” is an immigration story but it does not involve social political conflict, which is what I avoid.īOOKS: Was any book especially influential for you? There are Liberian contemporary writers like Agnes Kamara-Umanna, who do a beautiful job of telling the story of the war but those are exceptions for me. I would say I indulge in film a bit more. MOORE: Honestly, some of those books are triggering for me so I have not actively read nonfiction books about the migrant experience. In high school we read books like Steinbeck’s “ The Grapes of Wrath” and Ayn Rand’s “ The Fountainhead.” In graduate school I picked up Chinua Achebe’s “ Things Fall Apart.” Then I asked my dad what else should I read and got suggestions from friends.īOOKS: Are there books you think do a good job of reflecting the migrant experience? I was raised hearing stories, so the oral tradition was always present in my life but I was raised in Texas where I attended public schools. MOORE: It would have to be in my early 20s. BOOKS: When did you start reading African literature?

Wayétu moore