Contents
Aminatta Forna
Writing The Memory of Love and exploring the personal aftermath of war.
The Devil That Danced on the Water · The Memory of Love
- Born
- 1964
- Birthplace
- Bellshill, United Kingdom
More people
Aminatta Forna
Aminatta Forna is a writer of fiction, memoir and essays. Her work examines memory, political violence and belonging, drawing on connections to Sierra Leone and Britain.
Early life
International childhood
Was born in Scotland and grew up partly in Sierra Leone and Britain.
Law studies
Studied law at University College London before working in broadcasting.
Career
- 1989–1999
Broadcast journalism
Worked in BBC radio and television, including documentary-making.
- 2002–2010
Memoir and fiction
Published The Devil That Danced on the Water, Ancestor Stones and The Memory of Love.
- 2010s–2020s
Teaching and later writing
Taught creative writing and published Happiness and the essay collection The Window Seat.
Selected work
The Devil That Danced on the Water
Investigated her father’s life and execution in Sierra Leone.
The Memory of Love
A novel of love and trauma that won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book.
Happiness
Brought together questions of migration, nature and human resilience.
Beyond work
Education project
Founded the Rogbonko Village Project to support a community in Sierra Leone.
Literary community
Has served on prize juries and leads Georgetown’s Lannan Center.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Institutional source ↗Royal Society of Literature biography ↗Photo: Jürgen Matern. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
