Ahmadou Kourouma

Who is Ahmadou Kourouma?

Ahmadou Kourouma is widely regarded as one of the most important French-language novelists to come out of West Africa, known for a sharp, satirical voice that broke from conventional literary French. Born in Boundiali in northern Côte d'Ivoire into a Malinké family, he served in the French colonial army before turning to writing. His first novel, "Les Soleils des indépendances" (1968), mocked the empty promises of newly independent African states and was initially rejected by publishers in Paris for its unconventional style before finding an audience through a Quebec publishing house; it is now considered a landmark of African literature. He continued to interrogate African history and politics in later works such as "Monnè, outrages et défis" (1990), which examined the colonial era through oral-history storytelling techniques, and "En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages" (1998), a scathing portrait of African dictatorship that won the Prix du Livre Inter. His final novel, "Allah n'est pas obligé" (2000), narrated in the voice of a child soldier, won the Prix Renaudot and the Prix Goncourt des lycéens and remains widely taught for its unflinching depiction of West African civil conflict. He died in France in 2003.

Sources: Ahmadou Kourouma, Les Soleils des indépendances (Éditions du Seuil, 1970 French edition; first published 1968, Presses de l'Université de Montréal) · Ahmadou Kourouma, Allah n'est pas obligé (Éditions du Seuil, 2000) — Prix Renaudot 2000