Aïda Mady Diallo is a French and

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and director. She is the author of the novel ''Kouty, mémoire de sang'' (2002).

Life and work

After her childhood in France and receiving a college degree in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

, Diallo moved to

. Her novel ''Kouty, mémoire de sang'' (''Kouty, Memories of Blood''), tells the story of a young girl in 1980s in

Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...

region, in the northern part of Mali, seeking revenge for the death of her family at the hands of

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern A ...

killers. In an interview with the magazine ''Bamako Culture'', Diallo described the novel as "a call for tolerance and forgiveness." Critic Pim Higginson described it as adapting the

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

s of the

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

to criticise the fascination of Western readers with African violence. Diallo's television film ''Karim et Doussou'', the story of a contemporary Malian marriage, was nominated for a 2011 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) award.22eme FESPACO
, TV5 Monde. Accessed 15 November 2017.

Publications

* ''Kouty, mémoire de sang''. Paris: Gallimard, 2002. . *''Aïda Mady Diallo.'' Les Carnets de la Creation series. Montreuil, Paris: l'Oeil, 2003. . A short story by Diallo with photographs by

Antoine d'Agata Antoine d'Agata (; born 1961) is a French photographer and film director. His work deals with topics that are often considered taboo, such as addiction, sex, personal obsessions, darkness, and prostitution. D'Agata is a full member of Magnum Photo ...

. In French.

References

Living people French emigrants Immigrants to Mali Malian women novelists Malian film directors Malian women film directors Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Malian people {{Mali-writer-stub