SILENT LIGHT | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

A Louisiana native, Smith is employed on an oil platform off the west coast of Africa, while the diamonds are somewhere in the immense, war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. But Smith’s grown tired of the platform – one last adventure, he tells himself, and then, diamonds or no diamonds, he’s heading home.

Shortly thereafter, Smith meets a girl named Béatrice, who hails from a village on the other side of the country. This village, she tells Smith, is where the diamonds are – more than a thousand miles away on the patchwork of guerrilla-patrolled roads that traverse the country. If he helps her get home, she’ll show him where the stones are.

What follows is a harrowing tour of hell in which a not-so-innocent American abroad comes face-to-face with the legacy of European imperialism in the heart of the African continent. In stark prose, Jacobs reveals the limits of the western gaze to give us the story of a man who discovers you don’t have to travel to another country to get lost, and you don’t have to go home to be found.

Author Mark Jacobs is joining us on the Busboys stage alongside author Marita Golden to share about his unique storytelling method and what inspired him to write this thrilling novel. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Jacobs will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 5:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of SILENT LIGHT will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed.

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Mark Jacobs, a former foreign service officer, has published more than 200 stories in magazines including The Atlantic, Playboy, The Baffler, The Kenyon Review, and The Southern Review. His story "How Birds Communicate" won The Iowa Review fiction prize. He has stories forthcoming in several magazines including The Hudson Review. His story "Dream State" won the Dr. T.J. Eckleburg Kafka Prize. His five books include A Handful of Kings, published by Simon and Shuster, and Stone Cowboy, by Soho Press, which won the Maria Thomas Award.

Marita Golden is an award-winning author of over twenty works of fiction and nonfiction. Her many books include the novels The Wide Circumference of Love, After and the memoirs Migrations of the Heart, Saving Our Sons and Don’t Play in the Sun One Woman’s Journey Through the Color Complex. Her most recent work of nonfiction is The New Black Woman Loves Herself Has Boundaries Heals Every Day. She is the recipient of many awards including the Writers for Writers Award presented by Barnes & Noble and Poets and Writers, an award from the Authors Guild, and the Fiction Award for her novel After awarded by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. She has lectured and read from her work internationally.

Co-founder and President Emerita of the Zora Neale Hurston/ Richard Wright Foundation,

Marita Golden is a veteran teacher of writing at many universities which include The University of the District of Columbia Virginia Commonwealth University, Johns Hopkins University and George Mason University. She was a guest on the Oprah Winfrey and a question on Jeopardy! As a literary consultant, she offers writing workshops, coaching, and manuscript evaluation services.

Host or Publisher Busboys and Poets