Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Reynolds "Around the World Through Books"



Anthony Coetzer-Liversage, a South African visiting Virginia Commonwealth University this year as a Humphreys Fellow, did not initially find a program on a book set in Nigeria to be an obvious fit for himself. Yet his presentation on Teju Cole’s Every Day is for the Thief at the Around the World through Books program on Jan. 28 had the audience listening in sympathy as he tied the issues in the book to his own difficult experiences as a young man in Cape Town. 

He used quotations from the book to highlight issues in Nigeria such as corrupt government officials, the endemic system of bribery, the hopelessness of poverty and drug abuse, and the harshness of revenge justice, and showed how those things are also prevalent in South Africa and many countries that are struggling toward democracy.

Coetzer-Liversage’s experience providing substance abuse prevention and treatment services to minority groups in South Africa have given him a particularly acute understanding of how difficult it is to make positive changes and overcome systemic moral and economic obstacles, yet he expressed a great hope that progress can be made through small individual contributions. One audience member wrote, appreciatively, “Anthony modelled what he says we need more of—truth, addressing our fears, taking risks, etc.”

Around the World through Books is sponsored by the Multicultural Enrichment Council.

By Lisa Bishop