Thursday, October 30, 2008

L'INTERIEUR DE LA NUIT BY LEONORA MIANO!!!


Great , captivating book !!!



Finally!!! Why finally you may wonder, because I've finally been able to discover this writer, I've heard about her, I've actually seen an interview of the sista, she's one one of the most famous contemporary authors in France of African origins..African that she is, to the bone, every one of her words in her work asserts her African identity...


She was born in Cameroun in 1974, of her childhood and teen years she remenbers 2 things vividly:jazz and litterature...
As a little girl she remenbers being curious, wanting to understand things, her parents were avid readers and she remenbers wanting to understand what they were reading..while some of us were into "La Comptesse de Segur" she was into Racine ect..

In high school she wasn't too fond of French classics rather was attracted to writers from the Diaspora such as Maryse Conde ( if you have never read her please do she's excellent), African American writers such as James Baldwin....

Once in France her quest toward the African identity continues, she digs deeper read more, learn more about us and finally write ...Her first novel
"L'interieur de la nuit" is well received in France, in the book she gives the voice to a young girl called Ayane in a village of Africa where people still live based on set of ancestral myths and beliefs, she gives a voice to that ancestral system through Iye the most courageous woman in the village who lives and believes in that system, she gives the voice to those believe in a ideal at all cost even if it means killing inocent people through the character of Isilo...I read this book very quickly but was left broken honestly ..I guess that's when you know you read a good book when you are left with strong emotions....

Leonora has written other books " Contour du jour qui vient",
" Tels des astres eteints", " Afropean Soul"...
She's received several awards, the most important in my eyes is the "the prix de l'excellence " in Cameroun in 2007, her book "Contour du jour qui vient" was also chosen by French high school students as the best of the year 2006....ect


Here's her cool webbie:
Discover her here through this video:(great interview)

Djaa my sisters from Cameroun sont dedans aussi:)
Eyeee Wayeee:)

1 comment:

Amina said...

un autre livre a ajouter dans ma liste