Author's Bio: Kola Boof



MEDIABISTRO ("GalleyCat")
Kola Boof wins Swedish Writing Pen
Author’s Bio: Kola Boof
                                                                         
Kola Boof was born Naima Bint Harith circa 1969 in Omdurman, Sudan to Arab Egyptian archeologist Harith Bin Farouk and his wife Jiddi, a charcoal black Gisi-Waaq Oromo.  Kola’s birth parents were murdered in her presence in 1978 for speaking out against slavery and other atrocities by the Sudanese government, and in 1979, Kola was adopted and thereafter raised in Washington, D.C. by Black Americans, Marvin and Claudine Johnson.  In 1993, as an adult, Kola Boof became a citizen of the United States , and in 1994, she returned to North Africa to pursue a career in modeling and acting.  Unfortunately, in 1996, she was the mistress of Osama Bin Laden, which caused a media frenzy, and though it was against her will, caused Ms. Boof to lose her writing post at NBC's "Days of Our Lives" after sponsors became nervous.  Ms. Boof currently lives in Southern California .
                                                                                                                                                           
Awards
                                                                                                                                                  
“Best Book of 2006”—“Diary of a Lost Girl: The Autobiography of Kola Boof”, chosen by PRINCETON Critic Kam Williams Year of 2006 List/United States.
                                                                                                                                                     
“2007 World Author’s Woman to Woman Pen” for Non-fiction, awarded for Kola Boof’s essay “I Am My Own Daughter”, which appeared in the popular Swedish feminist magazine, OTTAR—Sweden.
                                                                                                                                                   
Books by Kola Boof (Published in the U.S. )
Diary of a Lost Girl (Autobiography)
Flesh and the Devil (a novel)
Long Train to the Redeeming Sin (short stories)
Nile River Woman (Poetry)
Harper’s Magazine (2006)
Politically Inspired (anthology by Stephen Elliot)
                                                                                                                                    
Miscellaneous
                                                                                                                                    
In 2008, the government of South Sudan rewarded Kola Boof for years of
activism by appointing her National Chairwoman of the U.S. branch of its
peace organization The SSPP.  
                                                                                                                                                          
She has been interviewed by MSNBC, FOX NEWS, CNN and featured in TV Guide, Time Magazine and the N.Y. Post and N.Y. Times.
                                                                                                                                               
PRAISE FOR KOLA BOOF:
                                                             
The New York Times:
            “The African Garbo…Kola Boof is earthy, angry and alluring.”
                                                                                                                               
Derrick Bell:
            “Kola Boof is a writer of courage, principle and loads of courageous
perseverance.”
                                                                                                                                    
Stephen Elliott (“Happy Baby”, “Looking Forward to It”):
            “Kola Boof writes like a singer. I loved ‘Long Train to the Redeeming Sin’.”
                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                            
Tiki Barber, The Today Show:
            “Kola, everyone should read your autobiography…it’s wonderful.”
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                              
Kam Williams, Princeton :
            “My pick for the Best Book of 2006 is ‘Diary of a Lost Girl’ by Kola Boof.”