Irène Assiba d'Almeida is a Beninese poet, translator and literary scholar. She is Professor of Francophone Studies and French at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Life

Irène Assiba d'Almeida was born in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, to

Dahomeyan The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a region ...

parents. She was educated in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

before gaining a BA degree from the

University of Amiens The University of Picardy Jules Verne ( French: ''Université de Picardie Jules Verne''; UPJV) is a public university located in the former Picardy region of France (now part of Hauts-de-France). It consists of several campuses located in th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and an M.Phil from the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. She received her PhD in 1987 from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She collaborated with Olga Mahougbe to translate

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as the dominant figure of modern African literature. His first novel and ''magnum opus'', ''Things Fall Apart'' (1958), occupies ...

's novel ''

Arrow of God ''Arrow of God'', published in 1964, is the third novel by Chinua Achebe. Along with ''Things Fall Apart'' and '' No Longer at Ease'', it is considered part of ''The African Trilogy'', sharing similar settings and themes. The novel centres on Ezeu ...

'' into French. D'Almeida's first book, ''Francophone African women writers'', was welcomed as "quite an event for African, Women's and Francophone Studies".Sylvie Kandé, "Review of Francophone African Women Writers: Destroying the Emptiness of Silence", ''

Research in African Literatures ''Research in African Literatures'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering African literary studies. It was established in 1970 and is published by Indiana University Press. The editor-in-chief is Kwaku Larbi Korang (Ohio State U ...

'', Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer 1996), pp. 226–229. She was the convener of the 2010 African Literature Association Conference, which was held at the University of Arizona. The contributions were published as ''Eco-imagination: African and diasporan literatures and sustainability'' (2013).Professor Irène Assiba d'Almeida

Works

* ''Francophone African Women Writers: destroying the emptiness of silence''. Gainesville:

University Press of Florida The University Press of Florida (UPF) is the scholarly publishing arm of the State University System of Florida, representing Florida's twelve state universities. It is located in Gainesville near the University of Florida, one of the state's maj ...

, 1994. * (ed.) ''A Rain of Words: a bilingual anthology of women's poetry in Francophone Africa''. Charlottesville:

University of Virginia Press The University of Virginia Press (or UVaP) is a university press that is part of the University of Virginia. It was established in 1963 as the University Press of Virginia, under the initiative of the university's then President, Edgar F. Shannon ...

, 2009. Translated by Janis A. Mayes. * (ed. with John Conteh-Morgan) ''"The original explosion that created worlds": essays on Werewere Liking's art and writings''. Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi, 2010. * (ed. with Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson and Thelma Pinto) ''Eco-imagination: African and diasporan literatures and sustainability''. Trenton, New Jersey:

Africa World Press Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, 2013. * (ed. with Sonia Lee) ''Essais et documentaires des Africaines francophones: un autre regard sur l'Afrique''. Paris:

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in W ...

, 2015. * (with Elsie Augustave) ''Autour de "L'enfant noir" de Camara Laye: un monde à découvrir''. Paris: l'Harmattan, 2018.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Beninese writers 20th-century non-fiction writers 20th-century poets 20th-century translators 20th-century women writers 21st-century Beninese writers 21st-century non-fiction writers 21st-century poets 21st-century translators 21st-century women writers Beninese academics Beninese emigrants to the United States Beninese poets Beninese translators Beninese women poets Emory University alumni Literary scholars People from Dakar Scholars of African literature University of Arizona faculty University of Ibadan alumni Women anthologists Women non-fiction writers {{Benin-bio-stub