Charles Cantalupo, Distinguished Professor of English, Comparative Literature and African Studies, Penn State Schuylkill, was recently invited to be a keynote speaker at the international conference "From Asmara 2000 to Nairobi 2014: New Horizons and Trends in African Languages and Literatures." The conference was held Aug. 6 to 8 at Kenyatta University, convened by the Institute of African Studies (IAS) in Nairobi, Kenya. Cantalupo's keynote was titled, "From Asmara 2000 to Nairobi 2014 - Beating the Odds." Among those who attended the conference and Cantalupo's lecture was Hassan Wario Arero, Kenya's secretary of sports, culture and the arts.
This conference is particularly important because it builds on the historic "Against All Odds: African Languages and Literatures into the 21st Century" conference that was held in Asmara, Eritrea, in 2000, which led to the Asmara Declaration on African Languages and Literatures. Cantalupo served as co-chair for "Against All Odds," co-authored the Asmara Declaration, and later wrote and directed a documentary on the conference.
Cantalupo also travelled to Eritrea, where he gave a public lecture, titled "Africa Antetranslation," and directed a three-day literary translation seminar for Eritrean writers and university students.
