“My mother will cook it for you,” he said.

Terry Farish joined his family for a meal and from that day, began a journey of listening. Her new friends in Portland’s Sudanese community told of their tumultuous path from South Sudan to Portland, Maine. The cultural exploration that started as “there is no word” became a braiding of stories, experiences, and words which culminated in the award-winning novel “The Good Braider.”

“The Good Braider” will be celebrated from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, July 11, at the Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, as part of a city-wide read entitled “I’m Your Neighbor, Portland.” A young actress originally from East Africa and now a member of the theatre group, A Company of Girls will read aloud from “The Good Braider,” Farish will talk about the development of the novel, and South Sudanese rapper OD Bonny will perform songs from his new CD “Kwo I Lobo Tek.” The event will include a book signing and the sharing of East African refreshments from Asmara Restaurant. The event is free of charge. For more information, call 207-420-1126.

The free-verse novel for teens and adults is told in the character Viola’s strikingly original first-person voice. The narrative follows Viola’s dreams of South Sudan and her navigation of the strange world of America — a world where a girl can wear a short skirt, get a tattoo or even date a boy; a world that puts her into sharp conflict with her traditional mother who, like Viola, is struggling to braid together the strands of a displaced life.

“As I built relationships with new friends in Portland from Sudan,” Farish said, “I explained to elders that I wanted to write a book about the teens as they made their homes in Maine. The elders very much wanted this story to be told and shared their experience and struggles with me. I approached the work as documentarian, spending a lot of time with families and learning how they spent their days, about their art, the work of their hands, the music they love, the stories they tell. However, I used this research method to create a novel. ‘The Good Braider’ is fiction and based on research and dozens of stories I recorded.”

Sudanese-American rapper and performer OD Bonny was given a copy of the book pre-publication and recognized Viola’s journey in “The Good Braider” as he and brothers also fled South Sudan as young men. In response to his reading, OD Bonny wrote and recorded the song “Girl from Juba” and is currently producing a music video for the song and book with local filmmaker Fred Ben. OD Bonny performs in a mixture of English and his native Acholi. His new CD “Kwo I Lobo Tek” translates as “Life is Hard in This World.”

“The song is about the struggle that we are facing in this world,” said OD Bonny, “and what we can do to solve some of those issues.”

ABOUT “I’M YOUR NEIGHBOR, PORTLAND”

“I’m Your Neighbor, Portland” is a year-long, city-wide read and series of public events designed to promote a sense of community among the city’s diverse communities. The city-wide read features nine books whose characters and subjects made Maine their home in the last several decades and in doing so transformed Portland into a vibrantly multiracial and multicultural city.

Maine is rich in writers and artists, and the cultural transformation of the state shows up in many new titles. Authors Frederick Lipp and Maria Testa started the trend: Lipp with his 2004 picture book, BREAD SONG, about a Thai American boy looking for the language to express his experience in Portland’s Standard Bakery; and Testa with her 2005 prose poetry novel, SOMETHING ABOUT AMERICA. Testa’s story follows the experience of a Portland family, refugees from the Balkans Wars, experiencing the tide of both resentment and support for “new arrivals” that was unleashed when the mayor of Lewiston asked the Somali community to scale back their arrival.

Eight years later, Maine’s “new arrival” novels include THE GOOD BRAIDER by Terry Farish, about a mother and daughter that flee the war in South Sudan and arrive as refugees in Portland, and OUT OF NOWHERE, about a Franco-American soccer player and his friendship with his Somali teammate, set in a fictional Lewiston.

There are also picture books for readers of all ages, including A PATH OF STARS, by Anne Sibley O’Brien, set in a Maine Cambodian American home where the scars of war hold on two generations after the Killing Fields; MOON WATCHERS: SHIRIN’S RAMADAN MIRACLE, by Reza Jalali, about a sister and brother in an observant Muslim family in a Maine suburb; and one import from Canada, MY FRIEND JAMAL, by Anna McQuinn, about a friendship between two boys, one of Polish descent, one of Somali descent. Non-fiction books round out the collection with NEW MAINERS, short biographies of “new arrivals” from all over the world; and I REMEMBER WARM RAIN, autobiographical essays by teenage immigrants and refugees about their journeys to Portland, their lives here, and their memories of home.

“These books document intimate moments in the lives of newcomers to Maine. My hope is that a community reading these books will feel curiosity and begin to imagine each other’s lives with interest and feel safe with one another,” said Terry Farish, author and immigrant family literacy specialist.

The “I’m Your Neighbor, Portland” collection of books is located near the Circulation Desk at the Portland Public Library’s Main Branch. Readers and families of readers can check out the books and attend events throughout the year to discuss and experience cultural elements from the books. A grant from the Maine Humanities Council funded the book purchase for The Portland Public Library and the featured events.

“The Library places a great emphasis on promoting a sense of community through reading and programs,” said Library Executive Director Steve Podgajny. Mary Peverada, Coordinator of Youth Services for the Library, added “every day we have interactions with a cross section of the city’s diverse population. “I’m Your Neighbor, Portland” will help children and their families understand and appreciate similarities and differences in their neighbors. Additionally, it celebrates the rich legacy of children’s literature in Maine.”

The goal of “Im Your Neighbor, Portland” is to engage members of the Greater Portland, Maine community, both new arrivals and long-term residents, in reading books about recent immigrants to Maine and sharing in discussion of differences and commonalities, to build understanding between the two groups.

“I have come to understand the transformative power of books and stories in effecting social attitudes,” says the project scholar, Dr. Krista Maywalt Aronson PHD, a professor of Psychology at Bates College. “Although Southern Maine has become increasingly diverse over the past decade, negative social attitudes and discomfort with cross-group interaction persists. As is evidenced by my own research, books and literature may provide people with an opportunity to engage with and explore important topics like immigration and culture, using a common story to frame the resulting conversation.”

“Listening to each others stories is the best way to initiate the building of strong communities,” said community organizer, Pious Ali, founder of Maine Interfaith Youth Alliance “Everyone in Portland shares a story of both living together in this city and remembering where we came from. I look forward to those stories coming out when we read as a city.”

“I’M YOUR NEIGHBOR, PORTLAND” EVENTS

The Good Braider: A Sudanese Journey Story

Date: Thursday, July 11th

Time: 6:00-9:00 PM

Location: Rines Auditorium, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland, Maine

FMI: Curious City, 207-420-1126, kirsten@curiouscity.netFeatured

Community: Sudanese American

Theme: Home

A book discussion of THE GOOD BRAIDER with author Terry Farish will be accompanied by a performance by Sudanese rap performer O.D. Bonny of his song based on the book, “A Girl from Juba,” and dramatic performance of a scene from The Good Braider by A Company of Girls.

Bread Song: Cross Cultural Friendships in Maine

Date: Wednesday, July 24th

Time: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM

Location: Children’s Reading Room, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland, Maine

FMI: Curious City, 207-420-1126, kirsten@curiouscity.net

Featured Community: Thai American

Theme: Community

Author Fred Lipp reads aloud from his book BREAD SONG, the story of a Portland boy from Thailand who overcomes his shyness about English when a local baker invites him to witness something magical. Taste breads from many cultures at our “Bread Song Cafe.”

Ramadan Mubarak: A Holiday Celebration and Education For Families of All Faiths

Date: Friday, August 2nd

Time: 5:30-9:30 PM

Location: Rines Auditorium, Portland Public Library,

5 Monument Square, Portland, Maine

FMI: Curious City, 207-420-1126, kirsten@curiouscity.net

Featured Books: OUT OF NOWHERE by Maria Padian and MOON WATCHERS: SHIRIN’S RAMADAN MIRACLE by Reza Jalai and illustrated by Anne Sibley O’Brien

Featured Community: Iranian American, Muslim American, Franco American, Somali American

Theme: Traditions

Reza Jalali, the coordinator of USM Multicultural Student Affairs and the author of MOON WATCHERS: SHIRIN’S RAMADAN MIRACLE will offer a history of Muslim traditions in Portland and host a panel discussion with Maine Muslims about their practice and the holy month of Ramadan.

Pious Ali of Maine Interfaith Alliance will host a panel with illustrator Anne Sibley O’Brien (MOON WATCHERS: SHIRIN’S RAMADAN MIRACLE) and Maria Padian (OUT Of NOWHERE) about how their knowledge of Islam grew through community relationships and research for their books.

A series of ongoing activities for children and adults will include the application of henna, writing lessons in Arabic, and a Muslim prayer rug exhibit.

At sundown, attendees of all faiths and backgrounds will break the fast with catered food from Iraqi restaurant, Tandoor Bread & Restaurant.

A Path of Stars: A Celebration of Cambodians in Maine

Date: Thursday, August 8th

Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: Rine’s Auditorium, Portland Public Library, 5 Monument Square, Portland, Maine

Info: Curious City, 207-420-1126, kirsten@curiouscity.net

Featured Book: A PATH OF STARS

Featured Community: Cambodian American

Theme: Home

Author / Illustrator Anne Sibley O’Brien and the books cultural consultants, Veasna and Peng Kem, will share the book A PATH OF STARS with families and host a series of events including drawing the lotus, sharing Cambodian food, writing in Khmer, and storytelling. Free copies of the book will be given away (while supplies last) courtesy of the Law Offices of Joe Bornstein.

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