Alain Mabanckou

Alain Mabanckou (born 24 February 1966) is a novelist, journalist, poet, and academic, a French citizen born in the Republic of the Congo, he is currently a Professor of Literature at UCLA. He is best known for his novels and non-fiction writing depicting the experience of contemporary Africa and the African diaspora in France. He is among the best known and most successful writers in the French language and one of the best known African writers in France. In some circles in Paris he is known as the Samuel Beckett of Africa. He is also controversial, and criticized by some African and diaspora writers for stating Africans bear responsibility for their own misfortune. He has argued against the idea that African and Caribbean writers should focus on their local realities in order to serve and express their communities. He further contends that categories such as nation, race, and territory fall short of encapsulating reality and urges writers to create works that deal with issues beyond these subjects.
Life.
Alain Mabanckou was born in Congo-Brazzaville in 1966. He spent his childhood in the coastal city of Pointe-Noire where he received his baccalaureate in Letters and Philosophy at the Lycée Karl Marx. After preliminary law classes at The Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville, he received a scholarship to go to France at the age of 22. He already had several manuscripts to his name, mostly collections of poems, which he began publishing three years later.
After receiving a post-graduate Diploma in Law from the Université Paris-Dauphine, he worked for about ten years for the group Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux.
Writing.
Mabanckou dedicated himself increasingly to writing after the publication of his first novel, "Bleu-Blanc-Rouge" ("Blue-White-Red"), which won him the "Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire" in 1999. Since then he has continued to regularly publish prose as well as poetry. His "African Psycho, Le Serpent à Plumes" (2003) is a novel written from the point of view of Gregoire Nakobomayo, a fictional African serial killer.
Mabanckou is best known for his fiction, notably "Verre Cassé" ("Broken Glass"), a comic novel centered on a Congolese former teacher and life in the bar he now frequents. "Verre cassé" has also been the subject of several theatrical adaptations. It was published in English translation as "Broken Glass" in 2009.
In 2006 he published "Memoires de porc-épic" ("Memoirs of a Porcupine"), which won the "Prix Renaudot", one of the highest distinctions in French literature. The book is a magic realism-inspired reworking of a folk tale into a psychological portrait of a young Congolese man's descent into violence.
In 2007, Mabanckou's early poetry was re-published by Points-Seuil under the title "Tant que les arbres s'enracineront dans la terre", as well as a biography of James Baldwin, "Lettre à Jimmy" (Fayard), on the 20th anniversary of Baldwin's death.
Mabanckou's 2009 novel, "Black Bazar", is a dark comic story set in Jip's, a Paris Afro-Cuban bar once frequented by Mabanckou, portraying the lives of characters from the various African diasporas of France.
Mabanckou's work has been published in 15 languages. "African Psycho" (2007), "Broken Glass" (2009), "Memoirs of a Porcupine" (2011) and "Black Baazar" (2012) have been translated into English.
Academic.
In 2002, Mabanckou went to teach Francophone Literature at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor. After three years there he was hired in 2006 by the University of California Los Angeles, where he is now a full Professor in the French Department. He currently lives in Santa Monica, California.
He was appointed Visiting Professor at the Collège de France (Chair of Artistic Creation) for 2016.