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About the event
Join author Monica Macias as she explores extraordinary true story of a West African girl’s upbringing in North Korea under the guardianship of President Kim Il Sung in conversation with Jim Hoare at the SOAS Centre of Korean Studies. Please pre-register if you want to attend
In 1979, aged only seven, Monica Macias was sent from West Africa to the unfamiliar surroundings of North Korea by her father, the President of Equatorial Guinea, to be educated under the guardianship of his ally, Kim Il Sung.
Within months, her father was executed in a military coup; her mother became unreachable. Effectively orphaned, she and two siblings had to make their life in Pyongyang. At military boarding school, Monica learned to mix with older children, speak fluent Korean and handle weapons on training exercises.
Reaching adulthood, she went in search of her roots. Spending time in Madrid, Malabo, New York, Seoul and finally London, at every step she had to reckon with others’ perceptions of her adoptive homeland. Optimistic yet unflinching, Monica’s astonishing and unique story challenges us to see the world through different eyes.
About the speaker
Monica Macias is the daughter of Francisco Macias, the first president of Equatorial Guinea following its independence from colonial Spanish rule. She has lived in several countries around the world and now resides in south London. Black Girl from Pyongyang is her first book to be published in English, and she will be the subject of a forthcoming documentary film.
Registration
This event is free and open to the public.
For inquiries, please contact: centres@soas.ac.uk
For more information on the event: https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/book-talk-black-girl-pyongyang
For more information on the book: https://www.duckworthbooks.co.uk/book/black-girl-from-pyongyang
