“A poetic account of the strength of women.” – Cheek Magazine

The 1994 genocide of the Tsutsi people devastated Rwanda with alarming speed. In her powerful debut novel, Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse uncovers the disaster’s aftermath on three generations of survivors. A political analyst in her own right, Mairesse explores the power of words to harm and alienate as much as they provide kinship and refuge. Through her literary work, she examines the human cost of war in the shadow of colonialism in this fascinating conversation.

In All Your Children, Scattered Blanche returns to Rwanda after building a life in Bordeaux with her husband and young son, Stokely. Reuniting with her mother Immaculata, old wounds are reopened for both mother and daughter while Stokely, caught between two countries, tries to understand where he comes from and where he belongs.

In conversation with Daniel Medin, comparative literature professor at the American University of Paris and a director of its Center for Writers and Translators.
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Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse was born in Butare, Rwanda, in 1979. Surviving the genocide against the Tutsis, she moved to France in 1994 to study political science and work for humanitarian causes. She is now an acclaimed novelist and poet.

Presented in partnership with the Embassy of France in Ireland.