KAMA SYWOR KAMANDA

Kama Sywor Kamanda from the Democratic Republic of Congo (born 1952) published his first book at the tender age of 15! Over the years he was to publish numerous works like novels, short stories, poetry, essays etc. He has lived in many European countries. He revels in literary festivals, conferences, meets, including poetry readings. His multiple awards include the Paul Verlaine Prize from the Academie francaise, the Black Africa Grand Prize for Literature and Master Diploma for Specialty Honors in Writing, and World Academy of Letters, United States of America (2006)

His published works include: Lointaines sont les rives du destin, La Traversée des mirages, La Joueuse de Kora, Les Contes des veillées africaines, Les Contes du crépuscule, Contes (Les œuvres complètes) Contes africains (Grund),Chants de brumes, Éclipse d’étoiles, L’Exil des songes, L’Étreinte des mots, Le Sang des solitudes, Oeuvre poétique (édition intégrale), 2008, and Au-delà de Dieu, au-delà des chimères, (essay).


Studies:

Kama Kamanda, poète de l'exil by Pierrette Sartin 

Kama Kamanda au pays du conte by Marie-Claire de Coninck 

Kama Sywor Kamanda : regards critiques

Kama Sywor Kamanda : chantre de la mémoire égyptienne by Isabelle Cata

La traversée initiatique étude sémantico-structurale de La somme du néant de Kama Kamanda by Yanick Morin

 

HELON HABILA

Helon Habila is another highly respected Nigerian writer. Born in 1967, he was African Writing Fellow at the University of East Anglia in England. In 2002 he published the first edition of his first novel, Waiting for an Angel. He has garnered many laurels including the Caine Prize in 2001. In 2005/2006 he became the Chinua Achebe Fellow at Bard College, NY. Measuring Time, his second novel came out in 2007. Oil on water is his third novel. He has also published an anthology titled The Granta Book of the African Short Story (2011)

His acclaimed works are: Waiting for an Angel: A Novel, (2004), New Writing 14, (2006), Measuring Time: A Novel, (2007), Oil on Water: A Novel (2010); The Granta Book of the African Short Story (2011)

NURUDDIN FARAH

Nuruddin Farah, from Somalia, has attracted tremendous critical attention over the decades. His early works like A naked needle, were highly acclaimed. He worked for the Ministry of Education in his country before studying further at international institutions around the world in countries like India and England. This cosmopolitan literary giant has lived and lectured around the world.

His published books include 

Why Die So Soon? (1965), A Dagger in a Vacuum, (play),From a Crooked Rib (1970) A Naked Needle,  Sweet and Sour Milk , Sardines, Close Sesame, Maps (1986),Gifts (1993), Secrets (1998),Territories (2000),Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora (2000), Links (2004), Knots (2007), Crossbones (2011).

Studies: 

Nuruddin Farah by Patricia Alden

Beyond empire and nation : postnational arguments in the fiction of
Nuruddin Farah and B. Kojo Laing by Francis Ngaboh-Smart

The novels of Nuruddin Farah by Derek Wright

Tradition, anomaly and the wave for the future : Somali oral
literature, Nuruddin Farah and written Somali prose fiction by Ali
Jimale Ahmed 

Focus on Nuruddin Farah : the 1998 Neustadt Prize ( Book )