Author Event at Frugal Frigate Bookstore

A book nerd her whole life, Katie always loved traveling on the words of others through their stories. Now, as a university student, she gets to live out her own in a new country in Senegal, West Africa.

While there, Katie meets Anne-Marie, a Senegalese who agreed to a language exchange with her, but ultimately results in a friendship in which neither uses their first language. Discovering that they can understand each other beyond linguistic confines, Katie’s previous ideas on what it means to belong, to be a friend, and to be yourself are challenged in ways she never expected.

Teranga is a true story that offers a glimpse into the profound effects that come from stepping outside of your comfort zone, immersing yourself in another culture, and allowing your heart and mind to open and stretch beyond what you thought was possible, never able to shrink back to what it once was.

About the Author:

Katie holds her BA in French and MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She's taught various English courses for 10 years to high school students in France, pre-med students in Saudi Arabia, and international graduate students at the University of Michigan. She's studied, worked in, and traveled to over 30 countries. In 2020, she moved to Redlands, California with her husband and is now writing and working full-time on her small business, Teranga Market.