Tanella Suzanne Boni (born 1954) is an Ivorian

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 wri ...

and

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 asp ...

. Also an academic, she is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Abidjan. Apart from her teaching and research activities, she was the President of the association of writers of the Côte d'Ivoire from 1991 to 1997, and later the organizer of the International Poetry Festival in Abidjan from 1998 to 2002.

Biography

Tanella Boni was born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

, Côte d'Ivoire, where she was educated to high-school level, before going on to further university studies in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, France, and at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, obtaining a PhD. She subsequently became Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cocody-Abidjan (now the University of Félix Houphouët-Boigny), as well as writing poetry, novels,

short stories 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 t ...

, criticism, and

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. She served as President of the Writers' Association of Côte d'Ivoire from 1991 to 1997 and organized Abidjan's International Poetry Festival from 1998 to 2002."Tanella Boni (Côte d'Ivoire)"

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. During the political strife in Côte d'Ivoire (from 2002 until 2011) she self-exiled to France.Tanella Boni biography
''Europe Now'', Council for European Studies, 1 March 2018. In 2005, she received the

Ahmadou Kourouma Ahmadou Kourouma (24 November 1927 – 11 December 2003) was an Ivorian novelist. Life The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Boundiali, Côte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursue ...

Prize for her novel ''Matins de couvre-feu'' (Mornings after curfew). In 2009, she won the Antonio Viccaro International Poetry Prize. Since 2013, Boni divides her time between Abidjan and Paris. She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', edited by Margaret Busby.Otosirieze Obi-Young
"Margaret Busby-Edited Anthology to Feature 200 Female Writers Including Adichie, Aminatta Forna, Bernadine Evaristo, Imbolo Mbue, Warsan Shire, Zadie Smith"
''

Brittle Paper ''Brittle Paper'' is an online literary magazine styled as an "African literary blog" published weekly in the English language. Its focus is on "build(ing) a vibrant African literary scene." It was founded by Ainehi Edoro (at the time a doctoral ...

'', 10 January 2018.

Bibliography

* ''Labyrinthe'' (poems), Editions Akpagnon, Lomé 1984 * ''Une vie de crabe'' (novel), Dakar: Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Sénégal, 1990 * ''De l'autre côté du soleil'' (children's story), Paris: NEA-EDICEF, 1991 * ''La fugue d'Ozone'' (children's story), Paris: NEA-EDICEF, 1992 * ''Grains de sable'' (poems), Limoges: Le bruit des autres, 1993 * ''Les baigneurs du Lac rose'' (novel), Abidjan: Nouvelles Editions Ivoiriennes, 1995; Paris: Editions du Serpent à Plumes, 2002 * ''Il n'y a pas de parole heureuse'' (poems), Limoges: Le bruit des autres, 1997 * ''L'atelier des génies'' (children's story), Paris: Acoria, 2001 * ''Chaque jour l'espérance'' (poems), Paris: L'Harmattan, 2002 * ''Ma peau est fenêtre d'avenir'' (poems), La Rochelle: Rumeur des Ages, 2004 * ''Gorée île baobab'' (poems), Limoges & Ecrits des forges, Trois-Rivières (Québec), 2004 * ''Matins de couvre-feu'' (novel), Paris: Editions du Serpent à plumes, 2005 * ''Que vivent les femmes d'Afrique'' (essay), Paris: Editions Panama, 2008, * ''Les nègres n’iront jamais au paradis'' (novel), Paris: Editions du Serpent à Plumes, 2006 * ''Le Rêve du dromadaire'' (poems, illustrated by Muriel Diallo), Cotonou: Ruisseaux d’Afrique, 2009 * ''Myriam Makeba : une voix pour la liberté'' (biography), Paris: Éditions À dos d'âne, 2009 * ''Jusqu’au souvenir de ton visage'' (poems), Paris: Alfabarre, 2010 * ''L’avenir a rendez-vous avec l’aube'' (poems), Vents d’ailleurs,

Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron The Festival de La Roque-d'Anthéron is an international piano festival, founded in 1980 by Paul Onoratini (1920–2010), then mayor of La Roque-d'Anthéron and , then an intern at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, seeking to creat ...

, 2011, . Translated into English by Todd Fredson as ''The Future Has an Appointment with the Dawn'', with an Introduction by

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (born 1967) is an American poet and novelist, and a professor of English at the University of Oklahoma. She has published five collections of poetry and a novel. Her 2020 collection ''The Age of Phillis'' reexamines the l ...

, University of Nebraska Press, 2018, * ''Toute d’étincelles vêtue'' (poems), La Roque-d’Anthéron: Vents d’ailleurs, 2014 * ''Là où il fait si clair en moi'' (poems), Paris: Éditions Bruno Doucey, 2017

Awards

* 2005:

Prize for ''Matins de couvre-feu'' * 2009: Antonio Vicarro International Poetry Prize

References

External links

Tanella Boni official website

(in French)

(in English)
Two poems by Boni in English (translated by Patrick Williamson)
Poetry in Translation.
"Nine Poems by Tanella Boni"
translated by Todd Fredson, ''Europe Now'', Council for European Studies. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boni, Tanella 1954 births 20th-century poets 20th-century short story writers 20th-century women writers Ivorian poets Ivorian short story writers Ivorian women novelists Ivorian women poets Ivorian women short story writers Ivorian women writers Living people People from Abidjan Academic staff of Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny Ivorian novelists