Stories That Bring Us Home

About this event

A Community Dinner and Dialogue on Memory, Identity, Culture & Belonging with award-winning authors Daniel Nayeri & Mavasta Honyouti

What does it mean to come home? How do the stories we inherit help us remember who we are, understand where we come from, and carry culture and memory across generations? Through Coming Home: A Hopi Resistance Story and The Teacher of Nomad Land, Honyouti and Nayeri invite us into stories of history, culture, displacement, resilience, and belonging. Join us for a community conversation with the authors as they explore how stories shape our understanding of home, identity, and the experiences we carry across generations. Together, we will reflect on the stories we inherit, the places we call home, and the people and experiences that shape who we become.

TWO AUTHORS. TWO HISTORIES. ONE CONVERSATION ABOUT HOME. BRING YOUR STORY.

Daniel Nayeri was born in Iran and spent some years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age seven with his family. He is the author of several books, including EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE (A TRUE STORY), winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, the Christopher Medal, and the Middle Eastern Book Award, THE MANY ASSASSINATIONS OF SAMIR, THE SELLER OF DREAMS, winner of the Newbery Honor, and THE TEACHER OF NOMAD LAND, winner of the Newbery Honor and the National Book Award. He lives in the U.S. with his wife and son.

Mavasta Honyouti is an artist and sixth-grade teacher who grew up in Hotevilla on the Hopi Reservation. As an artist, Honyouti continues the Hopi tradition of carving, creating intricate works rooted in family, cultural memory, resilience, and Hopi lifeways. In Coming Home: A Hopi Resistance Story, he uses his art to carve out a history and tell a powerful story of resistance, resilience, and return. As an educator, he introduces his students to Native American peoples and Indigenous cultures through knowledge and perspectives often absent from traditional textbooks. Through both teaching and art, Honyouti preserves cultural knowledge, inspires young people, and carries stories across generations.

Program Sponsors:

The Dodd Center for Human Rights

Hartford Public Library

UConn Hartford

Research on Resilient Cities, Racism, and Equity (RRCRE) and CoLAB