WHO: Ishmael Beah, a former “child soldier” in Sierra Leone, having been conscripted, given a copious amount of drugs and turned into a killer at age 13—who survived his ordeal, regained his humanity and wrote the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.

WHAT: Giving a talk titled “A Long Way Gone: A Story of Redemption and Hope,” in the Distinguished Speakers Series.

WHEN: 8 p.m. April 8

WHERE: Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

TICKETS: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or www.mondaviarts.org

RELATED EVENT: “Just the Facts, Ma’am?” Forum@MC, 5 p.m. April 6, Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center. Free. With David Simpson, G.B. Needham Distinguished Professor of English; and Steve Magagnini, staff writer, The Sacramento Bee, and UC Davis lecturer. The panel is expected to examine the boundaries between memoir and fiction, and explore the future of nonfiction in the new century.