Introduction by Marion Molteno to her forthcoming talk, A Sense of Place"

 

I am delighted to have been invited to join you on Friday 17th March, to talk about ‘A Sense of Place’ in my novels. I’ll  introduce you briefly to three of my novels, each set in a different continent: Uncertain Light in Tajikistan, Central Asia; If you can walk, you can dance in various parts of Africa; and Somewhere More Simple on the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall.

We are formed by the places we love - have grown up with - have had to leave behind - or choose to make our own. I’ve had unusual opportunities to become close to people formed by very different environments. I grew up in South Africa, and left after being involved in student protests against apartheid. I lived in Zambia at a time of rapid social change. In the UK I have worked with people from other cultural communities, and internationally for Save the Children, which took me into remote places in Africa and Asia. These encounters have been the stimulus for my novels. The places that my characters love fill my mind as I write, and I’m moved when people tell me that reading one my books has made them feel they have been there.