Mbella Sonne Dipoko (February 28, 1936 in

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...

– December 5, 2009 in

Tiko Tiko, originally called ‘Keka’ by the Bakweris, is a town and important port in the southwest region of Cameroon. The settlement grew as a market town for Duala (or Douala) fishermen, Bakweri (Kpwe people) farmers and hunters from Molyko, ...

) was a

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 ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

from

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. He is widely considered to be one of the foremost writers of literature in English from Cameroon.

Early life

Mbella Sonne Dipoko was born to Paul Sonne Dipoko, who was the Chief of Missaka. Mbella took over as Chief of Missaka after his father died in 1990. As a young man, he worked for the Cameroon Development Corporation as an accounts clerk in the year 1956. The following year, 1957, he started working as a reporter for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He stayed with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation until the year 1968. During this period of employment with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, he served as their reporter from France. In the year 1960 he started further studies in Paris, at the age of 24. For a couple of years, he studied Law and Economics at Université de Paris, and then abandoned his studies to pursue his interest in writing. It was during this time when he was studying in Paris that he began his writing career. His first piece of writing was the novel A ''Few Nights and Days'', which was published in the year 1966. That same year, he also wrote the piece "Helping the Revolution: a story", which was set in apartheid-era South Africa. After publishing his third novel, he returned to university in America, where he studied and earned a degree in Anglo-American studies, majoring in English.

Major works

* ''A Few Nights and Days''. London: Longman, 1966. * ''Because of Women''. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1969.

African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an int ...

, 57. * ''Black and White in Love''. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1972. African Writers Series, 107.

Other works

* ''Helping the Revolution: a story''. The New African, 1966 * ''Inheritors of The Mungo''. Présence Africaine, 1971 *''My People''. Présence Africaine, 1970 *''Overseas''. African Arts, 1970 *''Palabres''. Présence Africaine, 1967 *''Pris au piège''. Présence Africaine, 1962 *''Our Life''. Transition, 1963 *''Creative Hope.'' Transition'','' 1962 *''Transient Might.'' Transition, 1962 *''Promise''. Transition, 1962 *''Cultural Diplomacy in African Writing.'' Africa Today, 1968 *''The First Return''. Présence Africaine, 1967 *''Be a Guide''. Transition, 1964 *''Mass Exile''. Transition, 1964 *''Racism and the Eloquence of May''. Présence Africaine, 1968 *''To Pre-Colonial Africa''. Transition, 1964 *''Our Destiny''. Transition, 1964 *''Progress''. Présence Africaine, 1966 *''Marching through marshes''. Présence Africaine, 1963

References

1936 births 2009 deaths Cameroonian painters Cameroonian poets Male poets Cameroonian novelists Male novelists 20th-century Cameroonian painters 20th-century poets 20th-century novelists People from Douala Cameroonian male writers 20th-century male writers {{Cameroon-writer-stub