Djanet Sears

Djanet Sears (born 1959) is a Canadian playwright, actor and director. Born in England, to a Guyanese father and a Jamaican mother, Sears lived there until 1974 where she then moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in Canada. Her birth name was Janet — she added the D after a trip to West Africa where she came across a plateau called "Djanet," inspiring her to change her name as a nod to her African Ancestry.

Education and work

In 1977 Djanet moved to Toronto, Canada to attend York University where she pursued an Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. From there she studied at the Canadian Film Centre and New York University. Sears is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto as well as University College, University of Toronto, where she teaches playwriting and works on the preservation of Black theatre history. She is considered to be the leader behind the AfriCanadian Playwrights Festival, which is a culmination of African centered plays on the Canadian stage, it was held in Toronto in 2003 as well as 2006. Sears also belongs to and is a founding member of the Obsidian Theater. Djanet has received international recognition for three of her plays full length plays, Afrika Solo, Harlem Duet, and The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God.

Djanet

Djanet (Arabic: جانت‎) is an oasis city, and capital of Djanet District, in Illizi Province, southeast Algeria. It is located 412 km (256 mi) south of the provincial capital, Illizi. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 14,655, up from 9,699 in 1998, and an annual population growth rate of 4.3%. It is inhabited by the Kel Ajjer Tuareg people.

History

The region of Djanet has been inhabited since Neolithic times. There were periods of ten thousand years at a time that the area was not desert. The flora and fauna were luxuriant as is seen in the numerous rock paintings of Tassili n'Ajjer around Djanet. Populations of hunter-gatherers lived there.

Djanet was founded in the Middle Ages by the Tuareg. The Ottoman Empire, which had a nominal authority over the Fezzan region, reinforced their presence in the area at the beginning of the 20th century in reaction to the colonization of Africa by the Europeans.

Geography

Djanet, and the nearby towns of Azelouaz, El Mihan, Adjahil and Eferi, lie in a valley carved by the intermittent river (wadi) Oued Idjeriou through the southwest edge of the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain range. The Tadrart Rouge is located to the southeast and is a southern prolongation of the Libyan Tadrart Acacus.