Voices Against Indifference Initiative

Sly Cheney-Coker Project: Free to Write

October - November 2002

Biography

Born in Freetown in 1945, Cheney-Coker lived under constant threat from the rebels of the United Revolutionary Front from 1991 to 1997. After his house was attacked following the 1997 coup d’etat, he sought refuge in the American Embassy. He is currently a Writer-in-Residence in the City of Asylum Program at the International Institute of Modern Literature at the University of Las Vegas, NV. Cheney-Coker says the tragic events in Sierra Leone have shaped his mind to the point of making literature the only alternative to grief, silence and outrage. He has been characterized as one of the more exciting and strident voices among the younger African poets, and is a frequent speaker at literary festivals around the world. Cheney-Coker’s literary works (poetry, books, essays and short stories) have been translated into Dutch, Filippino French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian.