The Roots of the Guava Tree: Growing Up Jewish and Arab in Colombia, with Sonia Daccarett and Chanan Tigay

Click here to learn more about this event at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, presented in partnership with Congregation Beth Sholom, the Jewish Community Library, and Brandeis SF. 

Join author Sonia Daccarett and journalist Chanan Tigay for an intimate conversation about Daccarett’s debut memoir, The Roots of the Guava Tree: Growing Up Jewish and Arab in Colombia—a lyrical exploration of family, belonging, and the complexities of navigating multiple identities.

Born to Jewish and Arab parents in Cali, Colombia, Daccarett’s childhood was a mosaic of languages, histories and cultures. With humor, heart, and poetic insight, she reflects on the challenges and richness of growing up between worlds – and how diaspora shapes who we are and how we love.

Through storytelling and conversation, Daccarett and Tigay will explore themes of migration, memory, resilience, and the power of embracing your full cultural self – even when that self doesn’t fit neatly into a box.

Sonia Daccarett is a Colombian-born writer, artist, and communications professional whose work explores themes of diaspora, hybridity, and cultural memory.

Chanan Tigay is an award-winning author, journalist, and editor-in-chief of J. The Jewish News of Northern California. He also serves as a professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University. His most recent book, The Lost Book of Moses, was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice. He writes frequently about religion, history, and the unexpected intersections between them.