Calixthe Beyala

Calixthe Beyala
Born	(1961-10-26) October 26, 1961 (age 63)
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	Cameroonian, French
Notable works	Asséze l'Africaine , Les Honneurs perdus
Notable awards	Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire (1994), Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française (1998)
Website
calixthe.beyala.free.fr

Calixthe Beyala (born 1961) is a Cameroonian-French writer who writes in French.

Biography

A Cameroonian author and member of the Eton people, Calixthe Beyala was born in Sa'a to Cameroonian parents.

Her aunt and grandmother were particularly strong influences on her development, and she grew up listening to her grandmother's stories. Stories from which she drew inspiration and used to motivate her to work hard toward the creation of a meaningful career. ^[1]

Beyala was educated at the École Principale du Camp Mboppi in Douala and went on to study at the Lycée des Rapides à Bangui and the Lycée Polyvalent de Douala. She eventually won a scholarship to study in Paris at the age of seventeen, where she through a strong academic performance obtained a baccalaureate.

After a few years in Spain she published her first book, C'est le soleil qui m'a brûlée, at the age of 23 and eventually chose to become a full-time writer. ^{[1] [2]}

Awards

• 1998 - Le Prix comité français de l'UNESCO ^[3]
• 1996 – Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie Française
• 1994 – Prix François Mauriac de l’Académie Française
• 1994 – Prix tropique
• 1993 – Grand prix littéraire de l’Afrique noire ^[4]

Works

• C'est le soleil qui m'a brûlée 1987 Oxford: Heinemann; Librio, 1997, ISBN   978-2-277-30165-3
• Tu t'appelleras Tanga, Stock, 1988, ISBN   978-2-234-02142-6
• Seul le Diable le savait, Pré aux Clercs, 1990, ISBN   978-2-7144-2476-1
• La négresse rousse (1991); Éd. J'ai lu, 1997, ISBN   978-2-290-04601-2
• Le petit prince de Belleville, A. Michel, 1992, ISBN   978-2-226-05934-5
• Maman a un amant, Editions J'ai lu, 1993, ISBN   9782290313770—Grand Prize of Literature of Black Africa
• Assèze l'Africaine, A. Michel, 1994, ISBN   9782226069986 -- François Mauriac Prize of the Académie française
• Lettre d'une africaine à ses sœurs occidentales, Spengler, 1995
• Les Honneurs perdus, A. Michel, 1996, ISBN   978-2-226-08693-8 -- Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française
• La petite fille du réverbère, Albin Michel, 1998, ISBN   9782226095916—Grand Prize of Unicef
• Amours sauvages Albin Michel, 1999, ISBN   978-2-226-10818-0; J'ai lu, 2000, ISBN   978-2-290-30902-5
• Lettre d'une Afro-française à ses compatriotes, Mango, 2000, ISBN   978-2-84270-232-8
• Comment cuisiner son mari à l'africaine, Albin Michel, 2000, ISBN   978-2-226-11676-5
• Les arbres en parlent encore…, Librairie générale française, 2004, ISBN   978-2-253-06776-4
• Femme nue, femme noire, Albin Michel, 2003, ISBN   978-2-226-13790-6
• La plantation, Albin Michel, 2005, ISBN   978-2-226-15835-2
• L'homme qui m'offrait le ciel: roman, Albin Michel, 2007, ISBN   978-2-226-17715-5
• Le Roman de Pauline: roman, Paris, Albin Michel, 2009
• Les Lions indomptables, Paris, Albin Michel, 2010
• Le Christ selon l'Afrique, roman, Paris, Albin Michel, 2014

English translations

• Loukoum: the 'little prince' of Belleville, Translator Marjolijn De Jager, Heinemann, 1995, ISBN   978-0-435-90968-0
• The sun hath looked upon me, Translator Marjolijn De Jager, Heinemann, 1996, ISBN   978-0-435-90951-2
• Your name shall be Tanga, Translator Marjolijn De Jager, Heinemann, 1996, ISBN   978-0-435-90950-5
• How to Cook Your Husband the African Way, Translator David Cohen, Psychology News Press, 2016, ISBN   978-0-907-63336-5

References

1. Jagne, Siga Fatima; Parekh, Pushpa Naidu (2012). Postcolonial African Writers: A Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Routledge. pp. 75–82. ISBN   978-1-136-59397-0.
2. DeLancey, Mark Dike; Mbuh, Rebecca; Delancey, Mark W. (2010). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon. Scarecrow Press. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-8108-7399-5.
3. Dieudonné, Tahafo Fonguieng (2008). Histoire des Femmes célèbres du Cameroun. Yaounde: Editions Cognito. p. 77. ISBN   978-9956-412-01-3.
4. Martinek, Claudia (10 January 2005). "Calixthe Beyala". The Literary Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2006.

External links

• "Calixthe Beyala", The Literary Encyclopedia
• "Calixthe Beyala : writing in the margins", Africultures, Boniface Mongo-Mboussa
• "Calixthe Beyala, or the Literary Success of a Cameroonian Woman Living in Paris", Jean-Marie Volet, World Literature Today, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Spring, 1993), pp. 309–314
• Charles Salé, Calixthe Beyala: analyse sémiotique de Tu t'appelleras Tanga, Harmattan, 2005, ISBN   978-2-7475-9716-6

Further reading

• Hitchcott, Nicki, Calixthe Beyala: Performances of Migration, Liverpool University Press, December 2006, ISBN   978-1-84631-028-7