A small crowd of Chicagoans traveled through the snow and the bitter cold weather to Harold Washington Library last Tuesday, Jan. 21. to hear the inspirational words of Ishmael Beah. The Sierra Leonian author’s new book, his first fictional novel, was recently published and has already been critically acclaimed. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced Beah and spoke of the power of his words.

“His work is truly a work of art,” Emanuel said. “Where war wounds, his art heals.”

Beah first opened the eyes of many Americans in 2007 with his national bestseller, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.” In this book, Beah took his audience first through his traumatic life as a child soldier in Sierra Leone and finished by recanting his life as a young man living in the United States attending Oberlin College. He began writing the story with no intention of getting it published; rather, it was for himself and to share with his children one day. Today, his story has touched the lives of thousands.

“With ‘A Long Way Gone,’ I saw that people become interested at places with a lot of bloodshed,” Beah said. “But the media goes away when the guns silence.”

With the success of “A Long Way Gone,” Beah continued writing and has just published “Radiance of Tomorrow.” This novel portrays a fictional family, living in Sierra Leone, and struggling to move toward a future with a past of war pulling against them.

“Writing fiction for me was a freer experience, because with my own story, I always knew what was going to happen next before I sat down to write it,” he said. “And I often didn’t want to have to go back to that memory.”

As Beah told his personal life stories, the crowd sat with their eyes glued to his capturing demeanor, with tears trickling and smiles that mirrored his playful jokes.

“His story was always one that inspired me after reading his first book, but I am in awe of the courage he has,” Grace Ishimwe, Chicago resident, said. “We can hardly grasp the courage that he shows us through his writing; his work with the United Nations; and, most of all, the pure happiness that oozes out of him.”

Aside from writing, Beah also works for UNICEF, where he travels to Africa to save children affected by conflict and war. Beah explained that the most fulfilling part of his job is driving away with the children that he has just rescued from war.

“I lost my family, my siblings, in the war,” Beah said. “But this job, saving these children, has given me brothers and sisters all over the world.”

Beah’s inspiring stories and words can be found on bookshelves today.