Non-Fiction Writer Alexandre Poussin Reading Friday!!

Alexandre Poussin is a best-selling French author who has written three books about his incredible journeys around the world. Portland's own Inkwater Press published the first English version of his third book, Africa Trek.

Alex will be reading and showing a brief film Friday, Nov 7, from 2:30 - 3:30, in the Native American Student and Community Center (on the corner of Broadway and Jackson). Free event, free food and drinks. Books will be available for purchase.

Africa Trek is the amazing tale of Alex and Sonia Poussin’s 8,700-mile walking honeymoon from the Cape of Good Hope to the Sea of Galilee. Of their journey, Alexandre says, "Most people approach Africa with fear, a lot of organization and little time. We had faith, confidence and no prejudice on one side; no organization, tour operator or back-up team of any kind on the other; and no time limit — we were as free as a walking bird can be. We shared every person’s lives to better understand them, and understand the issues of their lives. To share their fate, we had to walk, because they all walk a lot — to go the fields, to the market, to town, to school. To take their path was to take their pace, their pulse, their problems. Our approach was anything but sophisticated: one footstep after another, for almost ever. . . And let it be. Let adventure be.”

Along the way, the Poussins survived bouts of malaria, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, swam at the edge of Victoria Falls, and walked the Great Rift Valley with Maasai warriors. Alexandre himself is charismatic, vivacious, and incredibly energetic, and would inspire PSU students to new academic and personal heights.

As “very freelance journalists,” says author Alexandre Poussin, “travelling is our way to reveal the world with a slower approach, one that is more intimate, more human.” Alex and Sonia completed their journey without sponsors, without support team, sharing the poverty of their hosts. They speak to us on each page of the generosity and enthusiasm of these men and women who populate the African continent. Day after day, they become a bit more African themselves.

Originally published in 2004 in France, Africa Trek captured the attention of the European nations. It was an International Herald Tribune Best Seller (France, over 280,000 sold to date); Express Tite-Live Best Seller for 17 weeks. It also won the Best Book Award at Cosne sur Loire Bookfair and the Best Book Award at the Adventure Festival of Les Angles in 2005.

Along with pen and paper, Alexandre and Sonia carried camera and video equipment. The footage was edited into a film that won multiple awards including Golden Fleece of the International Adventure Film Festival of Dijon 2004. It was also edited into a twelve-episode television special that ran on the Travel Channel over 40 times (over 300,000 viewers). OPB will be showing the public television documentary of their journey beginning in 2009.