A boy from the Central African Republic leaves his village on a brief vacation that becomes a lengthy absence as he makes many new friends and gets an education.
Dans ce recueil de nouvelles, se déroule devant nous la vie des Centrafricains, enfants de la rue, chasseurs, chercheurs de diamants, pêcheurs des rives de l'Oubangui voire grands commerçants. Une vie, et aussi une mort, où se mêlent étroitement modernité et tradition, réalité et mystères. Ignorer ce métissage serait ne pas comprendre la vie des Centrafricains de Bangui et d'ailleurs. Il exprime aussi la révolte d'une jeunesse contre la politique du ventre, la corruption, les dictateurs souvent décriés par ceux qui les ont façonnés, la misère des enfants de la rue comme celle des émigrés et ce... continue
Co-Wives, Co-Widows is the first adult work of fiction from the Central African Republic to be translated into English. This is the story of Ndongo Passy and Grekpoubou, the two widows of Lidou. Following their husband's sudden and unexplained death, they find themselves fighting tooth and nail for all that is important to them. A playful, bittersweet, story full of dry wit and local colour, set against a backdrop of political instability, corruption and the friction between the old and the new in Bangui in the Central African Republic.
Romanticised scenes from Seid's boyhood as well as stories from the golden age of empires and other timeless tales in this collection evoke positive images of Chad and Africa more generally. African readers, young and old, regardless of locality, will hear echoes of the folktales, fables and legends narrated by their grandmothers of an evening by the fire under the stars.
Though Mazamba knows he only has a few days left to extract most out of the world, and though he is married, Mazamba "embarks on an affair with a French woman, Aubéri, and comes to look at the world around him with new eyes." He is met with a society of racism, a nation of corruption and a globe of preconceived notions. But he still undertakes the quest to "challenge the status quo while he still can." Toihiri is a courageous and fearless writer. He looks and writes about the world with a different eye; an eye more clear and vivid an eye more brave. From the descriptions of 'a neighborhood whe... continue
Anguille is a 17-year-old girl who leaves her rock on the archipelago of Comoros to lose herself at sea. She drifts between two states of mind and between two islands 'in a hollow maze', evoking her memories so as to forget nothing and so as to delay the inevitable outcome. Confronted with the pressing immediacy of imminent death, Anguille recounts the story of her whole life in one long, sustained breath, in a series of brief couplets. But what Anguille recounts, in an assured voice which heralds a shipwreck, is also something other than her life - something much deeper below the ground, or r... continue
Life During Wartime, As Seen Through the Eyes of Two Congolese Teenagers Set amid the chaos of West Africa's civil wars, Emmanuel Dongala's striking novel tells the story of two teenagers growing up while rival ethnic groups fight for control of their country. At age sixteen, Johnny is a member of the Death Dealers, a rebel faction bent on seizing power. Even as he is drawn into the rebels' program of terror, Johnny Mad Dog, as he calls himself, retains his youthful exuberance--searching for girls, good times, and adventure. Sixteen-year-old Laokolé, for her part, dreams of finishing high scho... continue