Jean Pliya (July 21, 1931 – May 14, 2015) was a Beninese

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Life

Born in what was then

Dahomey 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 ...

, Pliya was educated at the University of Dakar and then the University of Toulouse. He graduated from the second in 1957 and in 1959 returned to his homeland to teach. He went on to hold ministerial positions in the Benin government.

Work

His work often considers colonial history and issues of values. He has also attempted to translate the

Fon people The Fon people, also called Fon nu, Agadja or Dahomey, are a Gbe ethnic group.Fon people
Encyclopædia Britan ...

's tales for a French speaking audience.

Publications

* ''L'Arbre fétiche'', recueil de nouvelles (L'Arbre fétiche, La Voiture rouge, L'homme qui avait tout donné, le Gardien de nuit), Yaoundé, Éditions CLE, 1971 * ''Kondo le requin'', consacré au roi Behanzin, Yaoundé, CLE, 1981 (

Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire The Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire (one of the major literary prizes of Black Africa for Francophone Literature) is a literary prize presented every year by the ADELF, the Association of French Language Writers for a French original text ...

) * ''Les Chimpanzés amoureux'', ''Le Rendez-vous'', ''La Palabre de la dernière chance'', nouvelles, les Classiques africains, 1977 * ''La Secrétaire particulière'', Yaoundé, Éditions CLE, 1973 * ''Les Tresseurs de cordes'', Paris, Hatier, Abidjan, CEDA, 1987 * ''La Fille têtue'', contes et récits traditionnels du Bénin, Abidjan ; Dakar ; Lomé, Nouvelles Éditions africaines, 1982.

References

External links

Official site
Beninese dramatists and playwrights 1931 births People from Djougou Cheikh Anta Diop University alumni Beninese male short story writers Beninese short story writers Beninese translators University of Toulouse alumni 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Government ministers of Benin 20th-century translators 2015 deaths 20th-century short story writers 20th-century male writers 20th-century Beninese writers {{Africa-translator-stub