Clemantine Wamariya, author portrait
© Julia Zave

Clemantine Wamariya

Clemantine Wamariya is a storyteller and human rights advocate. Born in Kigali, Rwanda, displaced by conflict, Clemantine migrated throughout seven African countries as a child. At age twelve, she was granted refugee status in the United States and went on to receive a BA in Comparative Literature from Yale University. She lives in San Francisco.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads

Inside the Book: Clemantine Wamariya (THE GIRL WHO SMILED BEADS)

Meet the Author: Clemantine Wamariya (THE GIRL WHO SMILED BEADS)

Clemantine Wamariya (author of THE GIRL WHO SMILED BEADS) | What I'm Reading

Books

The Girl Who Smiled Beads

Media

Inside the Book: Clemantine Wamariya (THE GIRL WHO SMILED BEADS)

Meet the Author: Clemantine Wamariya (THE GIRL WHO SMILED BEADS)

Clemantine Wamariya (author of THE GIRL WHO SMILED BEADS) | What I'm Reading

Register for the 2026 Penguin Random House First-Year Experience® Conference Author Events!

Penguin Random House Author Events at the 45th Annual First-Year Experience® Conference February 15-18, 2026 Seattle, Washington Hyatt Regency Seattle Click Here to RSVP A complimentary meal and a limited number of books will be available to attendees. Each event will also be followed by an author signing. Interested in hosting one of these authors at

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What Students Will Be Reading: Campus Common Reading Roundup, 2025-26

With the fall semester in full swing, colleges and universities around the country have announced their Common Reading books for the upcoming 2025-26 academic year. We’ve compiled a list of over 284 programs and their title selections from publicly available sources, which you can download here: First-Year Reading 2025-26. We will continue to update this

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2026 Catalog for First-Year & Common Reading

We are delighted to present our new First-Year & Common Reading Catalog for 2026! From award-winning fiction, poetry, memoir, and biography to new books about the environment, current events, history, public health, science, social justice, student success, and technology, the titles presented in our common reading catalog will have students not only eagerly flipping through

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Register for the 2019 Penguin Random House First-Year Experience® Conference Author Events!

 Penguin Random House Author Events at the 38th Annual First-Year Experience® Conference Las Vegas, NV, February 16-19, 2019 Click Here to RSVP Interested in hosting one of these authors at your school? Click their name below to learn more! Clemantine Wamariya Casey Gerald Abdi Nor Iftin Scott Harrison Zachary Wood

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