WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.390 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:00:04.390 --> 00:00:05.380 align:middle line:90% Good evening. 00:00:05.380 --> 00:00:06.680 align:middle line:90% You're even shorter than me. 00:00:06.680 --> 00:00:09.370 align:middle line:90% That's rare. 00:00:09.370 --> 00:00:11.290 align:middle line:84% I'd like to thank everyone for being here. 00:00:11.290 --> 00:00:13.210 align:middle line:84% And thank you for a wonderful dinner. 00:00:13.210 --> 00:00:14.350 align:middle line:90% We had a delightful dinner. 00:00:14.350 --> 00:00:17.750 align:middle line:84% And thank you to the Poetry Center for having me. 00:00:17.750 --> 00:00:20.410 align:middle line:84% I'm going to be reading from my novel, Running the Rift. 00:00:20.410 --> 00:00:23.950 align:middle line:84% Running the Rift is the story of Jean Patrick Nkuba. 00:00:23.950 --> 00:00:28.120 align:middle line:84% He is a young Tutsi boy, coming of age in Rwanda, 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:30.909 align:middle line:84% in the years surrounding the genocide. 00:00:30.909 --> 00:00:32.659 align:middle line:84% I wanted to say a little bit about Rwanda, 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:35.110 align:middle line:84% just to give you some background. 00:00:35.110 --> 00:00:37.030 align:middle line:84% In the country that became Rwanda, 00:00:37.030 --> 00:00:39.700 align:middle line:84% before the Belgians occupied Rwanda 00:00:39.700 --> 00:00:43.030 align:middle line:84% at the end of World War I, the Tutsi and the Hutu 00:00:43.030 --> 00:00:45.310 align:middle line:90% were, essentially, one people. 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:48.670 align:middle line:84% The Tutsi, originally, were probably a Nilotic people. 00:00:48.670 --> 00:00:50.560 align:middle line:84% They were the keepers of the cattle. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:55.090 align:middle line:84% They were the elite of the society in Burundi, Rwanda. 00:00:55.090 --> 00:00:57.550 align:middle line:90% And the Hutu were the agrarians. 00:00:57.550 --> 00:01:02.950 align:middle line:84% They were more the toilers, and they kept the fields. 00:01:02.950 --> 00:01:05.650 align:middle line:84% But the interesting thing was that before the Belgians came, 00:01:05.650 --> 00:01:08.300 align:middle line:90% distinctions were very fluid. 00:01:08.300 --> 00:01:10.060 align:middle line:84% The people were essentially one people. 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:12.700 align:middle line:84% They have the same origin myths, the same religion, 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:15.010 align:middle line:84% they have the same language, Kinyarwanda. 00:01:15.010 --> 00:01:18.970 align:middle line:84% And it was not until the Belgians came that distinctions 00:01:18.970 --> 00:01:20.230 align:middle line:90% were set in stone. 00:01:20.230 --> 00:01:22.220 align:middle line:84% If you got a certain amount of cattle 00:01:22.220 --> 00:01:24.220 align:middle line:84% before that-- there was a lot of intermarriage-- 00:01:24.220 --> 00:01:27.190 align:middle line:84% if you got a certain amount of cattle, you could become Tutsi. 00:01:27.190 --> 00:01:30.100 align:middle line:84% If you married a Tutsi, you could become Tutsi. 00:01:30.100 --> 00:01:33.310 align:middle line:84% Then, the Belgians came in, and, in their infinite wisdom, 00:01:33.310 --> 00:01:37.270 align:middle line:84% decided that they would divide and conquer. 00:01:37.270 --> 00:01:43.540 align:middle line:84% They set the Tutsi up as their surrogate ruler, ruler class. 00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:47.350 align:middle line:84% And they put them in charge of, essentially, the slave 00:01:47.350 --> 00:01:49.420 align:middle line:84% labor of the Hutu, and instructed 00:01:49.420 --> 00:01:52.840 align:middle line:84% them to beat the Hutu, or they themselves would be beaten. 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.470 align:middle line:84% They really got these divisions, and the bitterness that came 00:01:56.470 --> 00:01:57.880 align:middle line:90% with those divisions, going. 00:01:57.880 --> 00:02:03.460 align:middle line:84% And what they did was, they would call everybody in, 00:02:03.460 --> 00:02:05.830 align:middle line:84% and they would measure different parts of their body. 00:02:05.830 --> 00:02:09.710 align:middle line:84% They measured their nose, and they measured their fingers. 00:02:09.710 --> 00:02:12.160 align:middle line:84% And if you had a thin nose-- because the Tutsi were, 00:02:12.160 --> 00:02:14.230 align:middle line:90% essentially, thinner people. 00:02:14.230 --> 00:02:19.180 align:middle line:84% They had more Ethiopian features-- 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.970 align:middle line:84% if your nose was less than a certain amount, 00:02:21.970 --> 00:02:23.470 align:middle line:90% you were a Tutsi. 00:02:23.470 --> 00:02:26.260 align:middle line:84% If it was more than a certain amount, you were Hutu. 00:02:26.260 --> 00:02:28.660 align:middle line:84% And once they gave you an identity card-- 00:02:28.660 --> 00:02:30.250 align:middle line:90% it's called Indangamuntu-- 00:02:30.250 --> 00:02:33.280 align:middle line:84% and once you got that identity card, once the Belgians were 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.140 align:middle line:90% there, you could not change. 00:02:35.140 --> 00:02:36.790 align:middle line:90% You were Hutu or Tutsi. 00:02:36.790 --> 00:02:38.770 align:middle line:84% And those same identity cards were 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:44.020 align:middle line:84% used when they set up roadblocks during the genocide in 1994. 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:46.660 align:middle line:84% And if you were Tutsi, you were murdered. 00:02:46.660 --> 00:02:49.060 align:middle line:84% And even some people who looked Tutsi-- 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:51.910 align:middle line:84% because by the time the genocide happened, 00:02:51.910 --> 00:02:54.160 align:middle line:84% you couldn't really tell Hutu from Tutsi. 00:02:54.160 --> 00:02:55.720 align:middle line:90% I spent a lot of time in Rwanda. 00:02:55.720 --> 00:02:57.770 align:middle line:84% And some people, yes, you can tell right away, 00:02:57.770 --> 00:02:59.170 align:middle line:90% especially the Tutsi. 00:02:59.170 --> 00:03:01.150 align:middle line:84% Because you have these people that are very, 00:03:01.150 --> 00:03:04.210 align:middle line:84% purely, what you would call Tutsi. 00:03:04.210 --> 00:03:07.750 align:middle line:84% They're very tall, very slender, and narrow-featured. 00:03:07.750 --> 00:03:10.600 align:middle line:84% But a lot of the people, you really can't tell. 00:03:10.600 --> 00:03:14.320 align:middle line:84% Some people who were more narrow-featured and tall 00:03:14.320 --> 00:03:16.420 align:middle line:84% were killed, even though they were Hutu, 00:03:16.420 --> 00:03:19.070 align:middle line:90% because they looked like Tutsi. 00:03:19.070 --> 00:03:21.340 align:middle line:84% Jean Patrick Nkuba is a young boy. 00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:23.920 align:middle line:84% The two things that he wants in this world 00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:25.610 align:middle line:90% are to run in the Olympics. 00:03:25.610 --> 00:03:27.550 align:middle line:84% He discovers very early that he has 00:03:27.550 --> 00:03:30.970 align:middle line:84% a great love and passion for running, as well as a talent. 00:03:30.970 --> 00:03:34.930 align:middle line:84% And he qualifies for the Olympics in the 800 meters. 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:37.100 align:middle line:84% That's one thing that he wants very badly. 00:03:37.100 --> 00:03:39.580 align:middle line:84% And the other thing that he wants is to be a scientist. 00:03:39.580 --> 00:03:41.440 align:middle line:90% His father was a scientist. 00:03:41.440 --> 00:03:47.140 align:middle line:84% And he was a prefect at a local school called 00:03:47.140 --> 00:03:49.360 align:middle line:90% Gihundwe, a secondary school. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:51.370 align:middle line:84% Jean Patrick wants his education, 00:03:51.370 --> 00:03:52.540 align:middle line:90% and he he wants to run. 00:03:52.540 --> 00:03:56.110 align:middle line:84% And in the environment of Rwanda in the 1990s, 00:03:56.110 --> 00:03:58.220 align:middle line:84% it becomes increasingly difficult. 00:03:58.220 --> 00:04:01.390 align:middle line:84% The novel starts in 1984, when he's 10 years old, 00:04:01.390 --> 00:04:03.580 align:middle line:84% and it goes through the genocide. 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:05.680 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read you some passages. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.510 align:middle line:84% The first passage I'm going to read 00:04:08.510 --> 00:04:12.430 align:middle line:84% takes place when Jean Patrick has just-- his coach 00:04:12.430 --> 00:04:13.970 align:middle line:90% has started to groom him. 00:04:13.970 --> 00:04:14.980 align:middle line:90% He has a Hutu coach. 00:04:14.980 --> 00:04:17.019 align:middle line:84% And his coach, very early on, when 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:19.120 align:middle line:84% he was in secondary school at Gihundwe, 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.339 align:middle line:84% his coach recognized his potential, 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:24.340 align:middle line:84% and he starts training him for the 800. 00:04:24.340 --> 00:04:26.350 align:middle line:84% Jean Patrick qualified for nationals, 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:30.880 align:middle line:84% and he's just gone to nationals, and discovered that he 00:04:30.880 --> 00:04:33.640 align:middle line:90% has run an 800 A standard time. 00:04:33.640 --> 00:04:37.150 align:middle line:84% A standard is-- when you're qualifying for the Olympics, 00:04:37.150 --> 00:04:41.230 align:middle line:84% A standard says that that's what they want. 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:45.190 align:middle line:84% They will take a B standard time, one from each country. 00:04:45.190 --> 00:04:49.030 align:middle line:84% But A standard is what they're looking for in the Olympics. 00:04:49.030 --> 00:04:52.030 align:middle line:84% And he has just run an A standard time in the national 00:04:52.030 --> 00:04:52.630 align:middle line:90% meet. 00:04:52.630 --> 00:04:54.700 align:middle line:90% And he's coming back from-- 00:04:54.700 --> 00:05:00.370 align:middle line:84% he lives in Cyangugu, which is a fishing village in the South. 00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:04.170 align:middle line:84% And he has gone Kigali, where nationals were. 00:05:04.170 --> 00:05:06.000 align:middle line:84% And he's with his coach, and they've just 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:07.740 align:middle line:90% been through a checkpoint. 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:12.420 align:middle line:84% This takes place in 1992, when tensions are really increasing. 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:16.200 align:middle line:84% And there's been a civil war since 1991, 00:05:16.200 --> 00:05:17.940 align:middle line:90% between the Hutu and Tutsi. 00:05:17.940 --> 00:05:21.630 align:middle line:84% The rebels, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the RPF, 00:05:21.630 --> 00:05:24.480 align:middle line:84% came down from the North and occupied 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.460 align:middle line:90% Ruhengeri in Northern Rwanda. 00:05:26.460 --> 00:05:28.860 align:middle line:90% And that started the Civil War. 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:31.020 align:middle line:84% And now there are checkpoints everywhere. 00:05:31.020 --> 00:05:33.130 align:middle line:84% The soldiers are checking your identity, 00:05:33.130 --> 00:05:37.260 align:middle line:90% and they often hassle the Tutsi. 00:05:37.260 --> 00:05:39.510 align:middle line:84% John Patrick and his coach are coming back, 00:05:39.510 --> 00:05:41.550 align:middle line:84% and they've just gone through a checkpoint. 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:44.850 align:middle line:84% And the people before them were Tutsi, and they were hassled. 00:05:44.850 --> 00:05:48.090 align:middle line:84% And John Patrick is really feeling his heartbeat. 00:05:48.090 --> 00:05:50.880 align:middle line:90% 00:05:50.880 --> 00:05:53.120 align:middle line:90% This starts then.