Book Launch: QUAKE, WAVE, WAR
A MEMOIRE FROM THE FRONTLINE OF EMERGENCY AID
Wednesday 30th September | The Library | £10.00
Doors open at 18:00 | Talk begins at 18:30
The past 20 years have seen conflicts and natural disasters devastate lives and landscapes across the world. The impact of these events is streamed into every home – but can the fly in/fly out reporter’s perspective capture what the recovery from these disasters really entails?
Through diaries, emails and vivid, captured-moment photography, aid worker Diana Penn gives the real, on the ground story in QUAKE, WAVE, WAR. From the conflict in Darfur to the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Indonesia, extreme poverty in Nigeria to the earthquake in Pakistan, she gives an unforgettable glimpse into the lives being lived in these places.
Amongst the vast challenges are moments of joy – people going about their everyday business, children at play – that reinforce the indomitable nature of human beings. Absorbing, shocking, immediate and powerful, this book shows the extraordinary job that aid workers do and, more importantly, why that work remains so important – never more so than in the light of various governments’ international aid cuts.
Join Diana Penn in the Library for a powerful, first-hand journey beyond the headlines in QUAKE, WAVE, WAR. Through vivid diaries, emails, and striking photography, discover the human stories of survival, resilience, and hope that emerge in the wake of disaster.
All profits from the book sales will be donated to Disasters Emergency Committee.
About the Author:
For twenty-five years Diana Penn worked in international finance becoming a trust company director in 2001. Whilst travelling she witnessed many inequalities which led to her resignation from the position and setting about obtaining the necessary experience to work in overseas aid. Breaking into the charity world in 2002 did not, however, prove to be easy. First, she contributed to the work of Raleigh International in Chile and Costa Rica then eventually in 2004 she took a position with Oxfam. Diana was prepared for some aspects of her future having experienced holidays with rough living in various wild places. In 1990’s she had added flying to her skills both instructing and flying commercially. This may explain the references in most chapters to her flights with other small airlines and the insights she shows into their procedures.