launched.

into the world, this last sunday,  at Toronto’s Gladstone hotel.

i arrived  with no notes, and no expectations.  my parents were there early, as were some of my closest friends.  as it drew nearer to 5, the room filled.  when i started speaking, 10 minutes later, there was only standing room.  soon people were being turned away.  i had no idea.

my intention was to start with “60 Seconds in Sudan”, a video trailer for the book, embedded in the blog above.  i cued it, and pressed play.  it skipped, and paused, started again, paused, jumped.  the words and music were half heard.  people in the audience cringed in empathy.

only the next day did i realize that i had manifested, again, one of the last chapters of my book.  then, like on sunday, i had so desperately wanted to connect with an audience of friends and strangers and tell them about my time in sudan, about how it provoked questions about the nature of humans, mine and yours, that we were each deciding what one was,  even at that very moment.  i hoped to do it with words, and if those wouldn’t work, then perhaps pictures, videos, or computers would.

they didn’t, at least not all the way.   in a room packed full, i  did the best i could to bring them with me to sudan, and back.  whatever distance remained, perhaps the book erases. afterwards, avril benoit asked me questions about writing “six months…”, i had a dialogue with the audience,  and then….it was over.  so fast.  and i wanted to do it again.

slowly filling...

5 minutes to go

Sudan 101

me, avril benoit.

over. already?