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Aya
Marguerite Abouet
Graphic novel, 2005. Translated from French
A graphic novel of family, gossip and ambition in the Yopougon district of Abidjan in the late-1970s boom years.
Books set in Côte d'Ivoire
Four books by writers from Côte d'Ivoire, set there, that give a real sense of the place, starting with Aya and Climbié.
About the literature of Côte d'Ivoire
Bernard Dadié's Climbié, drawn from his own schooling under French rule, is a cornerstone of writing from Côte d'Ivoire. Its young hero is schooled and politicised in the early twentieth century, decades before independence came in 1960. Most Ivorian writers use French, the official language, while drawing on older oral storytelling. One such tale is the Baoulé founding legend of Queen Pokou, who led her people into what is now Côte d'Ivoire, retold poetically in Véronique Tadjo's Queen Pokou: Concerto for a Sacrifice.
Tadjo's Far From My Father follows a mixed-heritage woman who returns to Abidjan and her father's village for his funeral. Marguerite Abouet's graphic novel Aya brings the Yopougon district of Abidjan to life in the late-1970s boom years, with family, gossip and ambition.
By writers from Côte d'Ivoire
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Climbié
Bernard Dadié
Novel, 1956. Translated from French
A semi-autobiographical novel of a boy's schooling and politicisation under French colonial rule in early twentieth-century Côte d'Ivoire.
Queen Pokou: Concerto for a Sacrifice
Véronique Tadjo
Novel, 2004. Translated from French by Amy Baram Reid
A poetic retelling of the Baoulé founding legend of Queen Pokou, who led her people into what is now Côte d'Ivoire.
Far From My Father
Véronique Tadjo
Novel, 2010. Translated from French by Amy Baram Reid
A mixed-heritage woman returns to Abidjan and her father's village for his funeral, exploring family, tradition and modern Ivorian life.
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