Tierno Monénembo
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Thierno Saïdou Diallo, usually known as Tierno Monénembo (born 1947 in Porédaka), is a
Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...
Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
n novelist and biochemist. Born in Guinea, he later lived in
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
,
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
,
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, and finally France since 1973. He has written eight books in all and was awarded the 2008
prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the Prix Goncour ...
for '' The King of Kahel'' (''le Roi de Kahel'').


Education

In 1969, this son of a government official left Guinea, fleeing the
Ahmed Sékou Touré Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ; 9 January 1922 – 26 March 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who was the first president of Guinea from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was among the primary ...
dictatorship on foot to neighbouring
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
. He then went to the
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
to pursue his studies. He went to France in 1973, again for his studies, and he obtained a doctorate in biochemistry from the
University of Lyon The University of Lyon ( , or UdL) is a university system ( ''ComUE'') based in Lyon, France. It comprises 12 members and 9 associated institutions. The 3 main constituent universities in this center are: Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, which f ...
. Afterwards, he taught in
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
and
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. Since 2007, he has been a visiting professor at
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...
in Vermont, USA.


Writing career

Tierno Monénembo published his first novel in 1979. His novels often deal with the powerlessness of intellectuals in Africa, and the difficulties of the lives of Africans in exile in France. He is particularly interested in the history and connections of blacks with the forced immigrant diaspora in Brazil (Pelourihno). He recently devoted a novel to the Fula people and a fictionalized biography of
Aimé Olivier de Sanderval Aimé Olivier de Sanderval (10 July 1840, Lyon, France – 22 March 1919), comte de Sanderval, was a French people, French adventurer, explorer of West Africa, entrepreneur and author. Early life He was born in Lyon, the second of Olivier bro ...
, a French adventurer and explorer, originally from
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
(Pastré country), who admired their civilization and became a Fulani king. He uses the opportunity to revisit colonial history in order to bring this controversial period into the fictional imagination. He is currently working on the life of a Guinean Fula, a hero of the Resistance in France, executed by the Germans, as well as on the links connecting the black diaspora of the Americas with Africa. Tierno Monénembo was a writer in residence in Cuba when he learned that he was the 2008 winner of the Renaudot Prize. His award, however, put a spotlight on the growing place that French writers of African origin occupy in Francophone literature. It also emphasized, even if Tierno Monénembo lives in Normandy as if in the footprints of the Senegalese poet-president
Leopold Sedar Senghor Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold B ...
, that part of contemporary French literature is found in the South. For the English-speaking world, his significance was more for being one of the African authors invited to
Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...
after the 1994 Tutsi-Hutu massacre to "write
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
into memory". From this came the novel ''The Oldest Orphan''; the 2004 translation by the
University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
may be his most successful book in the English language. In November 2010 the English translation of ''Le Roi de Kahel'' ('' The King of Kahel'') was published by AmazonCrossing,
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
's translated fiction publishing arm; it was the new publishing company's first translated and published book.


Politics

He was strongly critical of the military coup d'état of 23 December 2008, in Guinea having brought to power the junta led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, just after the death of President Lansana Conté, who led the country with an iron fist since 1984. Remaining relatively quiet in 2009, on both a political and literary level, until the massacre of more than 150 civilians by the army on September 28 in Conakry, he then wrote a column published in ''Le Monde'' entitled "Guinea, Fifty Years of Independence and Hell" to condemn these killings and call the international community to action.« La Guinée, cinquante ans d'indépendance et d'enfer »
par Tierno Monénembo dans ''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
'', 4 Octobre 2009.


Works

*1979 : ''Les Crapauds-brousse'',
Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as Le Seuil, is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' (th ...
*1986 : ''Les Écailles du ciel'', Seuil *1991 : ''Un rêve utile'', Seuil *1993 : ''Un attiéké pour Elgass'', Seuil *1995 : ''Pelourinho'', Seuil *1997 : ''Cinéma : roman'', Seuil *2000 : ''L'Aîné des orphelins'', Seuil — Prix Tropiques *2004 : ''Peuls'', Seuil *2006 : ''La Tribu des gonzesses : théâtre'', éditions Cauris *2008 : '' Le Roi de Kahel'', Seuil —
Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the Prix Goncour ...
*2012 : ''Le Terroriste noir'', Seuil —
Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma The Prix Ahmadou-Kourouma is a Swiss literary prize in French literature, French language literature created in 2004, awarded annually by the Geneva International Book and Press Fair. The prize, named after Ivorian writer Ahmadou Kourouma, is given ...
, Grand prix Palatine *2015 : ''Les coqs cubains chantent à minuit'', Seuil *2016 : ''Bled'', Seuil


Awards

*1986: Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire ex-aequo, pour Les Écailles du ciel *2008:
Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the Prix Goncour ...
for ''Le Roi de Kahel'' *2012: Prix Erckmann-Chatrian and Grand prix du roman métis for ''Le Terroriste noir'' *2013: Grand prix Palatine and prix Ahmadou-Kourouma and ''Le Terroriste noir'' *2017: Grand Prix de la Francophonie


References


External links


University of Nebraska page on ''The Oldest Orphan''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monenembo, Tierno Guinean novelists Male novelists Guinean male writers 1947 births Living people Prix Renaudot winners Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire winners