If you were fortunate enough to be in Ubud last October, to catch some of the heated debates on how Africa is presented in literature today, here’s a good second chapter!
Abdourahman Waberi, a writer from the African nation of Djibouti, is coming to Ubud this October. An essayist, novelist, teacher, poet and short story writer, with-it Waberi has a voice that impinges on the global scene, transcending borders and language barriers.
Djibouti’s people have a long nomadic and trading history, which often indicates good storytellers, as well. Tiny Djibouti is sometimes referred to as a French Hong Kong on the Red Sea. There are quite a number of similarities between the two ports, and anyone with an interest in former colonial entrepots might want to start reading Waberi’s short stories.
A collection of these, The Land Without Shadows, originally published in French as Le Pays Sans Ombre, is populated with a wide array of characters (French, Arab, intellectual, to name a few) that bring alive the culture, history and storytelling traditions of Djibouti.
Decorated and praised in France, where he is based, Waberi has been named one of the 50 Writers of the Future by the literary mag Lire. Like many of our previous guests at Ubud, he is seems to be on the brink of even greater recognition and praise.
Most of his works were originally published in French (he majored in English Lit in Paris) and his writing may be of special interest to French nationals residing here. He’s been compared to Voltaire and, in the best traditions of French linguists, has a love of language itself. Waberi writes: “Languages are not owned by nations but by the people who use them and make them live. Vive la langue!” - a sentiment which makes him perfect for our very international festival of stories, dramas, dances, witnesses, readers, and writers.
Waberi’s latest novel, In the United States of Africa [trans David and Nicole Ball, Nebraska Press], looks like a winner. It’s a bold and fantastic vision of an Africa never before presented in literature.
In a literary reversal as deadly serious as it is wickedly satiric, this novel … turns the fortunes of the world upside down. On this reimagined globe a stream of sorry humanity flows from the West, from the slums of America and the squalor of Europe, to escape poverty and desperation in the prosperous United States of Africa. It is in this world that an African doctor on a humanitarian mission to France adopts a child. Now a young artist, this girl, Malaïka, travels to the troubled land of her birth in hope of finding her mother—and perhaps something of her lost self. Her search, at times funny and strange, is also deeply poignant, reminding us at every moment of the turns of fate we call truth.
Le Monde Diplomatique describes the work as destroying the clichés and prejudices that surround imaginings of Africa, and making readers rethink the issues of immigration and the often arrogant and unhealthy business of humanitarian aid. But, the reviewer writes, “this novel is also full of hope”. And it is here, with hope, that the heart of this year’s festival will lie – encouraging us all to reflect on the possibilities of “Suka Duka: Compassion and Solidarity”.
As a guest on our very lively stage, Waberi will bring plenty of exciting perspectives on Africa’s place in the world. His wit and wisdom should not be missed.
