An Evening With JOHN DAU

Readings & Signings of His New Book "The Pillars of Wisdom: Dinka"

Tickets: Event is FREE to the public!
Location: Dance Studio in The Addy (3rd Fl. at Proctors)

One of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” John Dau spent 15 years of his life fleeing more than1000 miles across Africa to escape death, forced sterilization or enemy army service - while still only a child. 

In 1987 he and 20,000 other boys - some as young as 6 or 7 - were displaced by civil war from home and family in Duc County, South Sudan. On the run from rebel soldiers, they made it to safety in a Kenyan refugee camp. John Dau then came to the U.S., graduating from college in Syracuse.

Now based in Richmond, VA, he is founder/president of the John Dau Foundation, which provides medical care and nutrition services in his home county of Duk, South Sudan, home of the Dinka tribe and one of the most impoverished, war-torn countries on Earth. 

Dau’s third book The Pillars of Wisdom: Dinka collects stories and folk tales told in the traditional Dinka style, instilling values and lessons through the adventures of animals and humans as they interact with nature. The Dinka pillars of wisdom are: respect, empathy, honesty, fairness, sharing, listening, welcoming, brother/sisterhood, friendship, love, perseverance and other subliminal lessons. 

“In my homeland, we told stories to help fill the young with wisdom acquired from the tribe. They rang true when I struggled to maintain my identity, my faith, and my hope as a Lost Boy of Sudan in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya... They ring true today, as I live and work as a U.S. citizen, husband, father, and foundation president in New York and Virginia.”

John Dau will share his remarkable life story, show a short film and read excerpts from The Pillars of Wisdom: Dinka. He will also sign copies of the book, which will be available that night, or in advance at on his website.