The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself is a work of autobiography first published in 1789. It is one of the first written works by an African of the diaspora and served as a model for much literature that was to follow. Equiano was a member of the Igbo (or Ibo) ethnic group in what is now Nigeria. The book details his capture and enslavement in West Africa, his horrific passage to Barbados, and his sale into slavery there. Parallel themes of the book are his adoption of Christianity and his learning to read.