Different Countries Inspire ‘A Different Sun’

Professor of English Dr. Elaine Orr is happy to call NC State home, but Raleigh is an ocean away from where she spent her childhood. Until the age of 16, Orr called West Africa home. Her beloved homeland, Nigeria, was the inspiration behind “Gods of Noonday,” Orr’s memoir, which was voted second in the Book Sense Top 10 for all University Press titles published in 2003.

After six years of work, Orr’s first novel, “A Different Sun,” is being published. Inspired by historical events and figures — which Orr encountered growing up as the child of Baptist missionaries — the novel bridges the gap between her two homes.

The novel  draws inspiration in part from the diary of a nineteenth-century missionary woman, given to Orr’s mother in 1952. The novel delves into race relations in West Africa and the American South.

Orr was able to travel to West Africa to research the novel through the assistance of CHASS writing grants. She hopes her work will add richness to the curriculum that may not have been possible otherwise.

Read more about “A Different Sun” and Elaine Orr at Bulletin.

By Alyssa Putt, Communication Intern