Author Description

Drama. African Studies. Women's Studies. Opera. This libretto is a rewrite of Aphra Behn's 17th century text Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave. At its center is Imoinda, the hitherto silenced black woman slave in Behn's novel. The child she bears comes to represent the triumphant survival of African-heritage people forcibly transplanted into the diaspora. This opera has been performed in both London and New York and is taught at universities in the United Kingdom, United States, and Italy.