Fools, Thieves and Other Dreamers: Stories from Francophone Africa

by Florent Couao-Zotti, Abdourahman A. Waberi, Seydi Sow

This is a rare achievement: translation of contemporary francophone African literature into English, and published within Africa, with the aim of promoting greater understanding and links across the continent. The impetus came from the focus on francophone Africa at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair 2001. Supported by the French Embassy, three lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe, assisted by nineteen students, undertook the translations of three short stories. The writers are Seydi Sow from Senegal, Florent Couao-Zotti from Benin, and Abdourahman Ali Waberi from Djibouti. Couao-Zotti's story 'Small Hells on Street Corners', was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing, 2002.

Genres: Short Stories, Africa, Benin

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[K's Bognoter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fools, Thieves and Other Dreamers (2001) er en mikroantologi bestående af blot tre noveller af tre forskellige fransksprogede forfattere fra henholdsvis Benin (Florent Couao-Zotti), Djibouti (Abdourahman A. Waberi) og Senegal (Seydi Sow).

Udgivelsen er et resultat af et oversættelsesprojekt forestået af tre undervisere (Tava Gwanzura, Véronique Wakerly og Birgit Schommer) sammen med en gruppe studerende fra University of Zimbabwe med støtte fra den franske ambassade i Zimbabwe. Formålet var at være med til at skabe interesse for fransksproget, afrikansk litteratur i de engelsktalende dele af kontinentet.

Det er der kommet en helt fin, omend lidt ujævn, lille udgivelse ud af.

Læs hele anmeldelsen på K’s bognoter: http://bognoter.dk/2018/06/24/florent...

[Anetq · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of three short stories from Francophone Africa: I liked Sow's fable from Senegal about society's representatives trapped in a well (all male off course, otherwise they would have gotten out of the well is my bet!). Couao-Zotti's story is a strange stream of consciousness (or just messy?) from a market in Benin - while Waberi's The Fool's Gallery is a reverie in Khat from Djibouti.

[Ang]

Benin