Born to a Central African mother and Congolese father, Emmanuel Dongala was born in the Republic of the Congo in 1941. She studied in the United State and taught at the University of Brazzaville, where she also held an administrative position. The civil war that devastated her country forced her to emigrate. She is currently a Professor of Chemistry at Simon's Rock College, Massachusetts, and Professor of Francophone African Literature at Bard College of New York.

Among her novels, we can find titles like Un fusil dans le main, un poème dans la poche ('A rifle in the hand, a poem in the pocket', 1973), Le feu des origines ('The fire of the origins', 1987), Les petits garçons naissent aussi des étoiles ('Baby boys are born from the stars', 2001) and Johnny Chien Méchant ('Johnny bad dog', 2005); as well as her short stories published under the title Jazz et Vin de Palme ('Jazz and Palma wine', 1982). Her achievements include winning the prestigious Fonlon-Nichols Prize in 2003 for literary excellence. Her works are being translated into a dozen different languages.

Sources:

• Biographical data on the author

• Biography on the web at the University of Kwazulu-Natal

More information:

• Check for the availability of publications at the Mediateca Casa África

• Casa África Literature Collection