Books in the CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French series

The Other Side of the Sea, the first novel by this major Haitian author to be translated into English, is riveted on the other shore--whether it is the ancestral Africa that still haunts Haitians, the America to which so many have emigrated, or even that final shore, the uncertain afterlife awaiting us all. With a grandmother and her grandson sharing the narration, this rich and concise tale covers an impressive span of Haitian history and emotion. Too old to leave her veranda, Noubt reflects on her past, touching on the 1937 Parsley Massacre, in which thousands of Haitians died at the hands of Dominican soldiers, and laments the exodus of so many young people from Haiti, although, ironically, she dreamed of making the trip herself (her name means New Boat in Creole). Her story is juxtaposed with that of her grandson, Jonas, as he suffers the abandonment of friends--including his lover--who emigrated during the Duvalier dictatorships, even feeling an urge to join them. Perhaps most striking is the addition of a third voice--that of an anonymous passenger in steerage recounting a slave ship's progress to the New World from Africa. This voice from long ago provides a powerful depiction of the sights, sounds, and smells of the Middle Passage and a fascinating counterpoint to the evocations of modern Haiti.CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French

The celebrated and highly versatile writer Leila Sebbar was born in French colonial Algeria but has lived nearly her entire adult life in France, where she is recognised as a major voice on the penetrating effects of colonialism in contemporary society. The dramatic contrast between her past and present is the subject of the nine autobiographical essays collected in this volume.

Follows the path of a young woman - Amina - as she makes her way through a city, a life, and a sense of self that have been ravaged by an earthquake. This novel explores psychological and social issues of universal relevance.

Written in a narrative prose, this is a translated collection of seventeen short stories about the precolonial and colonial past of Djibouti alongside those set in the postcolonial era. Here the art of the short story offers illuminated scenes of the Djiboutian urban and rural landscape, its people, and its history.

Translated for the first time in English, this collection of short fiction details the plight of urban Algerian women and raises far-reaching issues. The stories criticise the post-colonial socialist regime, which is seen as denying and subjugating women whilst celebrating the liberation of men.

When he isn't limited by the length of his master's leash, Mboudjak wanders the streets of Yaounde, a capital city caught in the throes of social and political change. Mboudjak relates an experience that reflects the elusiveness of meaning in politically uncertain times. This story is narrated told by a canine everyman.

L'histoire du fou, translated here as ""The Story of a Madman"", is a comic satire of the fictional Chief Zoaeteleu and his favourite sons Zoaetoa and Narcisse. Mongo Beti uses this fable to illustrate the problems of a people's disintegrating values in a postcolonial state.

October 15, 1793: the eve of Marie-Antoinette's execution. The Reign of Terror has descended upon revolutionary France, and thousands are beheaded daily under the guillotine. Edmond Coffin and Jonathan Gravedigger, two former soldiers now employed in disposing of the dead, are hired to search the Parisian neighborhood of Haarlem for a mysterious mixed-race "e;leopard boy,"e; whose nickname derives from his mottled black-and-white skin. Some would like to see the elusive leopard boy dead, while others wish to save him. Why so much interest in this child? He is rumored to be the son of Marie-Antoinette and a man of color--the Chevalier de Saint-George, perhaps, or possibly Zamor, the slave of Madame du Barry, mistress of Louis XV. This wildly imaginative and culturally resonant tale by Daniel Picouly audaciously places black and mixed-race characters--including King Mac, creator of the first hamburger, who hands out figures of Voltaire and Rousseau with his happy meals, and the megalomaniac Black Delorme, creator of a slavery theme park--at the forefront of its Revolution-era story. Winner of the Prix Renaudot, one of France's most prestigious literary awards, this book envisions a "e;Black France"e; two hundred years before the term came to describe a nation transformed through its postcolonial immigrant population.CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated from French

This translation introduces English-language audiences to Kourouma's irreverent view of the machinations of the African dictators who played the West against the East during the 30 years of the cold war.