Lisa Samson hosts a conversation with Edith Blais on The Weight of Sand, her unforgettable memoir of the 450 days she spent in captivity, and her defiant refusal to have her humanity stripped away.
When Edith meets Luca in a small Northern town, the two connect instantly. Under the Northern Lights, they develop a deep friendship over their shared passions: travel, living off the land, a bohemian life. In search of wanderlust, they embark on an epic road trip from Italy to Togo, where they will join their friend's sustainable farming project. Upon arriving on the African continent, they change their itinerary and drive through Africa's Sahel region, a haven for militant groups, where they are surrounded and captured. Little was known about Edith's and Luca's fate until they reappeared in Mali more than one year later, having mysteriously escaped their captors.
Now, Edith shares her harrowing story with the world for the first time-complete with the poems that became a lifeline for her in captivity, which she wrote in secret with a pen borrowed from another hostage.
Books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival is supported by generous individuals like you. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter and making a donation to support our programming and children’s literacy initiatives.
[An] intimate account of that time, a narrative characterized by terror, confusion, deprivation, and loneliness. It is also a depiction of hope-of finding possibility in the bleakest of moments.
Lisa Samson hosts a conversation with Edith Blais on The Weight of Sand, her unforgettable memoir of the 450 days she spent in captivity, and her defiant refusal to have her humanity stripped away.
When Edith meets Luca in a small Northern town, the two connect instantly. Under the Northern Lights, they develop a deep friendship over their shared passions: travel, living off the land, a bohemian life. In search of wanderlust, they embark on an epic road trip from Italy to Togo, where they will join their friend's sustainable farming project. Upon arriving on the African continent, they change their itinerary and drive through Africa's Sahel region, a haven for militant groups, where they are surrounded and captured. Little was known about Edith's and Luca's fate until they reappeared in Mali more than one year later, having mysteriously escaped their captors.
Now, Edith shares her harrowing story with the world for the first time-complete with the poems that became a lifeline for her in captivity, which she wrote in secret with a pen borrowed from another hostage.
Books are available from our friends at Perfect Books.
The Ottawa International Writers Festival is supported by generous individuals like you. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter and making a donation to support our programming and children’s literacy initiatives.
