Marion Molteno: Exile and Belonging

10:48am Wednesday 7th May 2008

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Marion Molteno: Exile and Belonging NOVELIST and short story writer Marion Molteno visited the Arts Centre to recall her experiences of life in Africa.

Marion was born in South Africa but left in the 1960s after she was involved in student protests against the apartheid regime.

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She studied in Britain and then lived for eight years in her adopted country of Zambia, where her two children were born.

But she and her family had to leave suddenly after another political crisis, which saw the country uprising against inequality.

The author of three novels wanted to get into writing to highlight some of the stories she has heard of over the years.

"I taught English on my return to the UK to people of different nationalities and who had so many interesting stories," she said.

"Exile needs a new belonging. To lose something and move on can be traumatic but in the end it's a process that can make you stronger.

"I wanted to show that in fictional stories representing true life.

"Storytelling is a vehicle of heeling and becoming people."

Marion has pioneered education projects in multi-ethnic communities and campaigned for the teaching of minority languages.

She added: "Writing is an odd solitary experience from my private world, but once printed it's like a message in a bottle, you just hope it'll get picked up."