The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center hosted an evening with HRH Princess Karen W.S. Brengettsy-Chatman
- Princess Karen Chatman
- 21 hours ago
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THE OFFICIAL ROYAL HOUSE OF SORI
November 7, 2025
On November 7, 2025, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center hosted a public lecture and book signing featuring Princess Karen Brengettsy-Chatman, whose work engages questions of lineage, identity, and historical memory. Held at the Stowe Visitor Center in Hartford, Connecticut, the event contributed to the Center's ongoing mission to promote critical dialogue about history, literature, and the construction of cultural narratives.
Princess Karen's lecture offered an interpretive framework for understanding her novel, "The Lost Crown of Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima ibn Sori and The Sovereign's Redemption," not merely as a literary work but as a vehicle for recovering and articulating marginalized histories. Drawing on her own process of reclaiming royal heritage, she examined the intersections of personal narrative, diasporic identity, and the erasures produced by colonial and imperial systems. Her discussion emphasized how storytelling can function as a form of historiographical intervention, allowing individuals and communities to assert presence within broader historical discourses.
The program, offered free with advance registration, included a question-and-answer session that encouraged participants to consider the implications of heritage reclamation, authorship, and representational authority. The subsequent book signing facilitated more direct engagement between the author and attendees.
By foregrounding Princess Karen's work, the Stowe Center reinforced its pedagogical commitment to elevating diverse voices and expanding public understanding of historical complexity. The event served as an example of how contemporary authors can contribute to the ongoing reexamination of cultural memory and the narratives through which societies interpret the past.
