Regina Yaou (sometimes N'doufou) (10 July 1955 – 4 November 2017) was a writer from

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Life and career

Yaou was born in

Dabou Dabou is a port town in southern Ivory Coast. It is the seat of both the Lagunes District and the Grands-Ponts Region. It is also the seat of and a sub-prefecture of the Dabou Department. Dabou is also a commune. The town is served by Dabou Air ...

and raised by her aunt in a literary family, and wrote her first poems between the ages of twelve and fourteen. She attended the technical high school in

Cocody Cocody (, ) is a suburb of and one of the 10 urban communes of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is upmarket and has an abundance of mansions. Cocody is where most of the wealthy businesspeople, ambassadors, and other affluent people live in Abidjan. The U ...

, where in 1977 she participated in a literary contest organized by the publishing house Nouvelles éditions africaines; this led to the creation of her first work, a novella entitled ''La Citadine'' which has remained unpublished, but which won a prize in the contest. After leaving school she worked for a few years before returning to her studies in 1982; she attended the

University of Tours The University of Tours (french: Université de Tours), formerly François Rabelais University of Tours (french: Université François Rabelais), is a public university in Tours, France. Founded in 1969, the university was formerly named after th ...

and spent a year at the

Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny The Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB) (formerly known as University of Cocody-Abidjan, fr.: Université de Cocody or Université de Cocody-Abidjan) is an institution of higher education located in the Cocody section of Abidjan and t ...

in Cocody. She has also lived in Akrou, in the

Jacqueville Department Jacqueville Department (french: Département de Jacqueville, link=no, ) or simply Jacqueville, is a department of Grands-Ponts Region, Lagunes District, Ivory Coast. In 2021, its population was 80,593, and its seat is the settlement of Jacqueville. ...

. She was declared a winner of literary competition organized by the new African edition in 1977 Yaou completed her first novel, ''Lezou Marie ou les écueils de la vie'', in 1977, presenting it to an editor in 1981 and publishing it in 1982. She followed it with ''La révolte d'Affiba'' in 1985; she has since written numerous other novels. From 1991 until 1993 she was 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 ...

as a

guest lecturer In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at a number of universities. She then returned to Ivory Coast, where in addition to her literary activities she held a number of other positions; in 2005 she returned to the United States once more, for two years of comparative study of the similarities between the stories of the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

and those of her home country. In 2009 she returned again to Ivory Coast. Beginning in the 1990s, Yaou published a number of works under

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s such as Joëlle Anskey and Ruth Owotchi. Her work generally focuses on themes of modern life and the role of women in Ivorian society, and includes discussion of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, infidelity, and maternity, among other issues. In 2014 she received the excellency award from the president of Cote d' Ivoire, and was the writer in the spotlight at the last international book fair at Abidijan. She died on 4 November 2017.Côte d'Ivoire: Décès de l'écrivaine Regina Yaou à Abidjan

Works

As Regina Yaou

*1977: ''La Citadine'', unpublished. *1982: ''Lezou Marie ou les écueils de la vie''.

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

, Nouvelles Éditions africaines *1985: ''La Révolte d’Affiba''.

, Nouvelles Éditions africaines *1988: ''Aihui Anka''.

, Nouvelles Éditions africaines (republished 1999) *1997: ''Le Prix de la Révolte''.

Nouvelles éditions ivoiriennes Nouvelles ( wa, Novele) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It was a municipality until the fusion of the Belgian municipalities The fusion of the Belgian municipalities ...

*1998: ''Les Germes de la mort. Tome 1: Brah la villageoise''.

*2001: ''L’indésirable''.

, Centre d'édition et de diffusion africaines (CEDA) *2005: ''Le glas de l’infortune''.

CEDA The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (, CEDA), was a Spanish political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Ángel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined itself in t ...

*2009: ''Coup d’État''.

*2010: ''Dans l’antre du loup''.

, Les Classique Ivoiriens *2012: ''Opération fournaise''.

Pseudonymous

*1999: ''Symphonie et Lumière''. Adoras,

*1999: ''Cœurs rebelles''. Adoras,

*2000: ''La fille du lagon''. Adoras,

*2001: ''Les miraculés''. Adoras,

*2004: ''Le Contrat''. Clair de Lune, Puci *2004: ''Tendres ennemis''. Clair de Lune, Puci *2004: ''L’amour en exil''. Clair de Lune, Puci *2004: ''Piège pour un cœur''. Clair de Lune, Puci

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaou, Regina 1955 births 2017 deaths Ivorian women novelists 20th-century novelists 20th-century women writers 21st-century novelists 21st-century women writers People from Dabou University of Tours alumni Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny alumni People from Lagunes District Ivorian writers in French