A WABERI

A Waberi, écrivain
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Abdourahman A. WABERI was born in 1965 in Djibouti. He passed his A-levels in 1985 and left the "miniature Republic" to go to France. An M. Phil. in English Studies and a thesis on the Somalian writer Nuruddin Farah were the crowning achievement of his university adventure. Waberi is the author of many articles and short essays in the field of African literatures and arts. He is a literary consultant in African and Black diaspora literatures for the French publishing house, Le Serpent à plumes, Paris. His first collection of short stories Le Pays sans ombre ([Land Without Shadows], Le Serpent à plumes publisher, Paris,1994) got two academic prizes in France and in Belgium, and the Association of French-speaking Writers awarded him, in October 1996, the Great Literary Prize for Black Africa for his second collection of short stories, Cahier nomade [Nomad Notebook]. His first novel, Balbala (idem, 1997) closed the trilogy of the theme of the native country. Balbala won a grant from the Unesco as well as two more prizes. Waberi writes also poetry and a volume of poems was released in 2000. Moisson de crânes (2000) is his contribution to the reflection on the Rwandan genocide. This work of fiction is part of the project "Rwanda : Ecrire par devoir de mémoire" initiated by Fest'Africa. Rift, Routes Rails (Gallimard, 2001) is his latest (and fifth) work of fiction.