Rosalind Kilkenny McLymont, author of the highly praised novel Middle Ground visited BMCC recently, discussing and reading from her book in front of an audience of two dozen students in the on-campus Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
Kilkenny McLymont happily noted that before her sat a richly diverse crowd of students, telling them that “the whole word is waiting for motivated, intelligent people like you.”
The talk was part of Scholars in Action, which brings intellectuals to BMCC at least once a semester. The series started at BMCC back in 2003, when BMCCers attending the Annual Spring Conference of the New York College English Association — themed “Anatomy of Violence” after the Sept. 11 attacks — asked that it be more accessible to the student body. The Office of Student Activities and the Department of Developmental Skills took on the task, and by the Spring of 2004, Scholars in Action was created.
Rosalind Kilkenny McLymont and Middle Ground
Middle Ground begins by introducing the reader to the death of Janice McWright, the first African-American ambassador to Belgium who has died mysteriously in a car crash in Belgium.
At the funeral, her daughter Shayna, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who lives in a world of elitism and privilege, discovers that she is the adopted daughter of Janice, and that she was born in Congo-Kinshasa to an American Peace Corps worker and his illiterate Congolese mistress. In response, Shayna puts her marriage engagement on hold and heads to war-torn Congo to find her birth mother.
From there the story takes off, portraying “a great blend of tragedy, humor, history, romance, espionage, politics, business, and suspense,” according to Felicia Persaud of Hardbeatnews.com.
Kilkenny McLymont — who is editor-in-chief of The Network Journal, New York’s premier magazine for Black professionals and business owners — said she began writing the book 30 years ago. The reason it took her so long? She wanted to perfect her story.
“If any of you are thinking about publishing something, you don’t have to race to get it done. There is no rush to get to the finish line,” said Kilkenny McLymont, who is also a partner in McLymont, Kunda & Co., an international trade and business development strategy firm with clients in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean.
The book has received illustrious honors and rave reviews since being published. Last year it won Best Fiction Award at the annual Self Published Authors/Independent Publishers Symposium in New York, and in October 2006, it was named Book of the Month and given a 10-star raring by Disilgold Soul, a leading online literary review magazine.
On Africa
Kilkenny McLymont’s aim in writing the book was to show people what she called “the real Africa.” While media reports may give you the idea the country is ravaged by AIDS, poverty and war — and that’s not to say the country doesn’t have those enormous problems — there is indeed another side to the story, Kilkenny McLymont said.
“There’s a whole other side that is extremely vibrant,” she said. “Some cities, you don’t know if you’re in Africa or Europe. The touristy beaches of Mozambique are absolutely gorgeous. There are people there who want to become educated.”
“Why is it that so many American multinational companies are trying to get into Africa?,” she asked. “Merrill Lynch describes the country as ‘the last frontier.’ There is wealth to be had in Africa.”
And because of that, and other reasons, Kilkenny McLymont said important for the students — and everyone, really — learn about Africa.
“The world is changing due to global economic relations,” she said. “It’s no longer a world dominated by only certain countries … third world countries are starting to call the shots. And this is the world you are going to be stepping into when you leave college..”
