"I believe that we should try to reach everyone, presenting our problems as problems of humanity, which are moving and passionate for an extensive audience."

Kourouma, who was born in 1927 in the Ivory Coast and died in Lyon (France) in 2003, was able to offer a critical perspective of 20th century Africa through his novels.

He studied in Bamako (Mali), and after serving in the French army in Indochina, he moved to Lyon where he completed a bachelor´s degree in Mathematics. In 1960, he returned to his nation, but his unhappiness in light of the political situation at that time led to his exile, and he lived in several countries (Algeria, Togo and Cameroon) where he was detained on several occasions. In 1994, he returned to the Ivory Coast.

Despite the fact that it is not made up of many titles, his literary production has been able to stand out as one of the most significant in contemporary African literature. However, his recognition has been primarily French, the language in which he wrote all of his novels. The first, Le soleil des indépendances ('The Suns of Independence,' 1968), received several awards and high sales. It was followed by Le diseur de vérité (1972); Monnè, outrages et défis (1990); Esperant el vol de les feres (1998); Yacouba, chasseur africain (1998); Allah Is Not Obliged (2000) and Quand on refuse on dit non ('When One Rejects, They Say No', 2004), which was published posthumously.

Sources:

• The author´s profile in the Completereview.com website

• Wikipedia

For more information:

• An interview of the author in the Unesco website

• Information about the author at the  Random House website