Olympe Bhêly-Quenum (born 20 September 1928) is a

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 nort ...

ese

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 ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and magazine editor. He is the nephew of anthropologist Maximilien Quenum-Possy-Berry. Born in the city of

Ouidah Ouidah () or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch) and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on the coast of the Repub ...

(formerly Dahomey), Bhêly-Quenum had his primary education in Benin from 1938 to 1944, after which he traveled throughout his native country,

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 ...

, his maternal grandmother's country, and

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, where he learned English. In 1948 he went to France and undertook his secondary studies at the College Littré, in Avranches,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

(Manche). He worked as a teacher and trained as a diplomat, before turning to journalism. He was Editor-in-Chief and then Director of an African magazine entitled ''La Vie Africaine'' until 1964. He subsequently joined

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 ...

in Paris. He is the author of several works of fiction published in French. He won the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire for ''Le Chant du lac'' in 1966. His first novel ''Un piège sans fin'' (1960) was translated into English as ''Snares Without End'' (Longman, 1981) and has been called "an un-put-downable tragedy".

Stewart Brown Stewart Brown (born 1951 in Southampton, UK) is an English poet, university lecturer and scholar of African and Caribbean Literature.

, ''Writers From Africa'', London: Book Trust, 1989, p. 10.

Works

* ''Un piège sans fin'' (Stock, 1960; 1978). Translated by Dorothy S. Blair as ''Snares Without End'' (Longman, 1981) * ''Le Chant du lac'' (Editions

Présence Africaine ''Présence Africaine'' is a pan-African quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris, France, and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, ''Présence Africaine'' expanded to include a publishing house and a bookstore ...

) * ''Liaison d'un été et autres récits'' (1968) * ''L'initié'' (1979) * ''Les Mille Haches'' (1981) * ''Les Francs-Maçons'' (1997) * ''La naissance d’Abikou'' ("Abikou's birth", 1998) * ''C'était à Tigony'' (2000). ''As She Was Discovering Tigony'', trans. Tomi Adeaga (Michigan State University Press, 2017)

References

External links

Olympe Bhely-Quenum's website

Claude Wauthier, ''Un auteur à découvrir: Olympe Bhely-Quenum entre l’Europe et l’Afrique'', Chronique Livres, Radio France Internationale, 13 August 2003
– review in French 1928 births Living people People of French West Africa Beninese journalists Beninese novelists People from Ouidah 20th-century novelists Male novelists Male journalists 20th-century male writers Weird fiction writers {{Benin-writer-stub

Works

Further reading

References

External links